THE 


EMIGRANT   SHIP 


BY 

W.  CLARK  RUSSELL 

AUTHOR  OF   "LIST,   YE    LANDSMEN!"    "THE    ROMANCE  OF  A 

TRANSPORT,"    "THE   WRECK   OF   THE    '  GROSVENOR,'  " 

"AN   OCEAN  TRAGEDY,"    "THE   FROZEN 

PIRATE,"   ETC.,   ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

THE   CASSELL   PUBLISHING  CO. 
104  AND  106  FOURTH  AVENUE 


COPYRIGHT,  1893,  BY 
CASSELL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


THE  MERSHON  COMPANY 
RAHWAY,   N.   J. 


TO   MY   VALUED   FRIEND 

fl6ajor*(3eneral  patricfe 

SOLDIER   AND    SCHOLAR. 


2022158 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  rAG« 

I.  BLATHFORD, i 

II.  KATE  DARNLEY, 6 

III.  CAPTAIN  CADMAN, 10 

IV.  MATE  OF  THE  "  HEBE," 18 

•  V.  THE  "HEBE"  SAILS 26 

VI.  A  DIFFICULTY 33 

VII.  A  PLOT, ...  40 

VIII.  THE  GREAT  SALVAGE  WATERING  SCHEME,        ...  47 

IX.  THE  SALVAGES, 54 

X.  THE  BARILLA  CUTTER 63 

XI.  BLADES  OF  THE  "  CAROLINE," 71 

XII.  THE  "  EARL  OF  LEICESTER," 83 

XIII.  TRAPPED, .89 

XIV.  BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY 96 

XV.  AN  UNEXPECTED  MEETING, 104 

XVI.  BRIGSTOCK'S  SCHEME 114 

XVII.  THE  WOMEN, 122 

XVIII.  I  TAKE  COMMAND, 132 

XIX.  THE  "  PARDNERS," 142 

XX.  A  CHAT  WITH  KATE 153 

XXI.  THE  EMIGRANTS'  DINNER 163 

XXII.  A  FORECASTLE  DANCE, 174 

XXIII.  THE  WOMEN'S  PLOT, 187 

XXIV.  IMPRISONED, 196 

XXV.  ADRIFT 204 

•XXVI.  BRIGSTOCK'S  VISIT,                  213 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

XXVII.  THE  OATH, 221 

XXVIII.  A  SAILOR'S  TOMBSTONE 232 

XXIX.  AT  PRAYERS, 244 

XXX.  MY  GIRL  CREW, ,253 

XXXI.  THE  HORN, 265 

XXXII.  MY  OATH 275 

XXXIII.  BULL'S  ISLAND, 284 

XXXIV.  THE  SAILORS  DECIDE, 293 

XXXV.  THE  START  FOR  SYDNEY, 304 

XXXVI.  A  SECOND  SUICIDE 315 

XXXVII.  A  NEWSPAPER  CUTTING,  AND  THE  STORY  PROCEEDS,      .  329 

XXXVIII.  CONCLUSION 336 


THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BLATHFORD. 

"  STOP  !  "  said  I. 

"  Wo  !  "  cried  the  driver. 

The  old  horse,  clanking  in  its  harness  like  a  chain  topsail 
sheet  in  a  squall,  halted  and  I  mounted  upon  my  sea  chest 
in  the  cart  to  take  a  view  of  the  scene. 

The  month  was  early  August,  the  year  1850.  The  after- 
noon was  beautiful  and  rich  with  a  sky  full  of  large,  low-float- 
ing clouds,  which  as  they  soared  gave  their  white  breasts  to 
the  kisses  of  the  distant  hilltops.  On  one  side  ran  a  mile  or 
two  of  level  meadows,  painted  with  red  and  brindled  cows 
and  white  sheep.  Afar  glanced  a  dusty  road,  snaking  past 
masses  of  trees  to  the  summit  of  a  green  hill.  I  caught  sight 
of  the  olive  and  purple  light  of  the  river,  and  the  distant 
fields  were  studded  with  haystacks  like  giant  toadstools.  A 
soft  air  blew  over  the  country  ;  to  my  salt-hardened  nostrils  the 
sweets  it  brought  seemed  to  combine  into  one  marvelous  per- 
fume of  raspberry. 

Do  you  want  to  know  how  refreshing  and  fair  beyond  all 
prospects  of  meadow,  hill,  and  valley  which  this  great  world 
has  to  offer  is  an  English  landscape  viewed  on  an  August 
afternoon,  when  the  land  is  piebald  with  the  blue  shadows  of 
clouds,  and  when  the  wind  in  the  trees  cools  the  hot  buzz  of 
the  bluebottle  with  a  quiet  seething  as  of  expiring  foam  ? 
Come  to  it  after  three  years  and  some  months  of  coarse  sea- 
faring ! 

"  Go  on,"  said  I  to  the  carter. 

"  Jee  oop  !  "  cried  the  man,  fetching  the  stern  of  his  horse 
a  friendly  thump  with  a  truncheon.  Again  the  old  brass- 


2  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

bound,  chain-laden  harness  rattled  ;  the  wheels  creaked.  I 
emptied  my  pipe  and  sat  me  upon  my  sea  chest.  We  had  but 
a  short  distance  to  go.  I  stared  with  devouring  eyes.  We 
rumbled  down  a  lane,  and  then  into  a  kind  of  village  street. 
Well  knew  I  the  house  that  slighted  the  neighborhood  by 
giving  its  blank  back  to  the  public  highway  and  its  face  of  fra- 
grant windows  and  pleasant  porch  to  its  own  green,  sw^et- 
smelling  grounds  behind  the  wall  ;  also  the  dirty  little  cottage 
with  two  leering  windows  and  a  paralyzed  door,  and  the  dirtier 
little  cottage  beside  it  remarkable  only  for  not  having  been 
the  birthplace  of  a  poet  ;  also  the  stone  dog's  head  spouting 
a  stream  of  crystal  water  into  a  trough,  and  the  white-faced 
inn  with  a  faded  portrait  of  Lord  Nelson  hanging  over  a 
blackbird's  wicker  cage,  which  shook  with  loud  melody  as  I 
passed.  I  seemed  likewise  to  remember  the  yellow  cur  that 
eyed  us  from  the  doorway  of  the  Nelson  inn  ;  I  recollected  its 
manner  of  wagging  everything  about  its  hinder  parts  but  its 
stump  of  tail.  The  mob  of  hens  opposite  the  little  cottage 
faced  by  three  yews  trimmed  into  a  likeness  of  immense  tee- 
totums were  also  familiar,  particularly  the  large  black  rooster 
which  lay  in  the  dust  with  one  leg  forked  out  under  one  wing. 

We  rounded  the  corner,  and  I  saw  the  church  on  my  right, 
the  white  tombstones  in  its  shadow,  and  the  red  flag  of  the 
English  merchant  service  floating  from  the  short  mast  on  the 
top  of  the  tower.  Here  was  a  beautiful  lane  with  a  fine 
avenue  of  trees  which  carried  the  eye  to  the  thickly  wooded 
hillside  a  mile  beyond.  The  cart  rumbled  me  a  little  way 
past  the  church,  and  then  the  driver  stopped  at  a  gate.  A 
tall  hedge  went  on  either  hand  that  gate,  and  behind  the 
hedge  and  through  the  trees  you  caught  with  difficulty  a 
glimpse  of  an  old-fashioned  house  with  a  red  roof  and  bur- 
nished windows  darkly  shining  among  creepers. 

Scarcely  had  I  jumped  out  of  the  cart  when  the  gate  was 
opened,  and  in  a  moment  my  father  was  straining  me  to  his 
heart.  A  few  moments  later  my  mother  was  holding  me  by 
both  hands,  kissing  me,  and  exclaiming  in  her  delight,  and 
stepping  backward  to  look  at  me,  only  to  give  me  another 
hug. 

My  father  was  the  Rev.  Joseph  Morgan  ;  this  parish  was 
Blathford,  and  he  was  vicar  of  it.  His  church  stood  nearly 
opposite  his  house  ;  St.  John's  it  was  called.  He  had  lived 
twenty  years  in  the  place.  His  face  was  beautiful  with  benevo- 
lence ;  he  was  now  about  sixty  years  of  age,  very  gray,  his 
smile  slow  and  sweet,  his  figure  tall  and  wonderfully  erect. 
His  living  was  a  beggarly  yield,  and  he  was  a  poor  man,  the 


BLA  THFORD.  3 

poorer  by  reason  of  his  having  to  maintain  a  married  daughter 
by  his  first  wife,  who  had  died  in  giving  birth  to  the  child. 
And  that  is  one  reason  why  I  went  to  sea. 

The  carter  shouldered  my  sea  chest,  and  with  my  mother's 
hand  in  mine  I  followed  my  father  into  the  house.  We  went 
into  the  dining  room,  and  as  we  entered  a  girl  standing  in  the 
window  turned  her  face  to  us. 

"  Kate,  dear,"  said  my  mother,  taking  me  up  to  her,  "this  is 
my  son  Charles,  fresh  from  sea.  Think,  Kate  !  we  have  not 
seen  him,  as  you  know,  for  three  years  and  three  months." 

She  then  introduced  me  to  the  girl,  Miss  Kate  Darnley.  I 
had  met  her  father  once  ;  he  was  a  parson,  and  lived  at  Bris- 
tol ;  he  was  very  poor,  I  recollect,  but  got  along  with  the  help 
of  a  trifling  annuity  topped  by  an  occasional  call  to  preach  a 
sermon  or  to  take  duty,  as  it  is  termed,  for  which  he  received 
a  guinea  or  two.  Kate  was  in  mourning ;  the  melancholy, 
depressing  attire  told  me  I  need  not  ask  what  had  become  of 
her  father.  We  shook  hands,  and  I  looked  in  her  face  and 
admired  her.  She  was  dark,  with  a  great  plenty  of  black  hair, 
a  soft  blushing  complexion,  and  large  sparkling  black  eyes. 
My  mother  went  out  to  see  after  my  chest. 

"  I  told  Wilkinson  to  hoist  the  ensign,"  said  my  father  ;  "  it 
is  the  only  parish  welcome  I  can  offer." 

The  table  was  laid  for  a  late  dinner,  an  alarming  departure 
in  the  habits  of  my  primitive  parents. 

"  This  is  worth  going  to  sea  to  enjoy,  Miss  Darnley,"  said 
I,  looking  round  the  pleasant  little  room.  How  familiar  the 
low  ceiling,  the  high  mantelpiece,  the  great  picture  of  my 
paternal  grandfather  (dressed  in  a  red  coat,  and  leaning  with 
one  hand  upon  a  cannon)  hanging  over  the  ancient,  dark  side- 
board, which  had  come  sliding  into  Blathford  vicarage  through 
five  generations  of  my  mother's  people. 

"  Call  her  Kate,"  said  my  father. 

But  here  my  mother  stepped  in  to  carry  me  upstairs,  where 
more  hugging  happened,  and  though  we  talked  swiftly,  our 
conversation  ran  us  into  half  an  hour. 

"  Charlie,  you  have  grown." 

"I  have  broadened  just  one  inch,  but  I  have  not  risen  by 
the  dark  of  a  finger  nail.  It  is  nearly  all  stooping  with  us 
sailors  ;  it  curves  our  spines,  and  so  we're  called  shellbacks. 
Kate  Darnley's  a  pretty  girl,  rather." 

"  Poor  Kate  !  She  is  very  much  to  be  pitied.  Her  father 
died  and  left  her  with  only  a  few  pounds.  She  was  forced  to 
go  out  as  a  governess,  but  she  found  so  much  difficulty  in 
obtaining  a  situation  that  she  had  serious  thoughts  of  becom- 


4  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ing  a  domestic  servant.  Only  think  of  Kate,  who  is  really  a 
charming,  refined  lady,  as  a  housemaid." 

"  Where  does  she  live  ? " 

"  About  thirty  miles  away.  The  family  gave  her  a  holiday, 
and  we  invited  her  here  for  a  few  days.  She  stays  till  next 
Monday.  How  battered  your  sea  chest  is." 

"That's  through  cutting  plug  tobacco  upon  it." 

"  Do  you  want  any  money,  dear  ?  " 

"  I  have  plenty." 

"  Plenty;  well,  come  !  " 

I  pulled  a  leather  bag  full  of  sovereigns  and  notes  out  of  my 
pocket,  and  plumped  the  treasure  down  upon  the  dressing  table. 

"  There's  above  three  years'  pay  there,"  said  I,  "  less  slop 
chest  and  other  deductions." 

"  It's  hardly  earned  money,  my  poor  boy."  said  she,  taking 
my  face  in  her  hands  and  kissing  me  again.  "  How  often  have 
I  prayed  for  you  on  stormy  nights." 

"  And  perhaps  we,  at  the  same  time,  were  praying  in  the 
speech  of  sailors  for  a  little  of  the  wind  that  was  making  you 
uneasy.  How  is  old  Perkins  ?  Is  little  fat  Miss  Smithers  mar- 
ried yet  ?  How  is  the  congregation  getting  on  ?  Does  the 
plate  come  back  heavier  after  its  Sabbath  round  ?  No  more 
buttons,  I  hope,  and  sixpences  taken  out  as  change  for  three- 
penny bits." 

"  It's  a  struggle,"  said  my  mother.     And  so  we  talked. 

I  stood  abreast  of  a  sheet  of  looking-glass  in  a  wardrobe, 
and  got  a  good  view  of  myself.  This  is  seldom  Jack's  privi- 
lege. He  shaves  in  an  inch  or  two  of  cracked  mirror  and 
knows  not  what  figure  he  cuts  till  he  steps  ashore.  I  was  a 
great  lump  of  a  man  for  my  three  and  twenty  years,  not  fat — 
no,  there  is  nothing  in  the  harness  cask  to  run  the  body  with 
blubber.  I  was  a  large  shape  of  tough  muscle  from  neck  to 
heel,  and  when  I  flung  my  weight  on  a  halyard  or  a  sheet  it 
was  to  leave  but  little  more  for  the  fellows  to  do  than  gather 
in  the  slack.  And  yet  when  my  father  had  put  me  to  sea  as 
a  boy  of  fourteen  the  captain  might  have  drawn  me  through 
the  neck  of  his  whisky  bottle.  I  was  burnt  black  with  the  sun  ; 
my  eyes  we're  a  dark  blue  and  my  hair  a  dark  brown.  I  had 
packed  some  new  clothes  in  my  chest  at  Bristol,  but  still  wore 
the  things  I  had  come  ashore  in,  and  so  showed  somewhat 
raggedly,  like,  indeed,  the  end  of  a  mighty  long  voyage  ;  but 
on  my  mother's  going  I  smartened  myself  up,  I  shaved,  and 
shifted  me  to  the  shoes  on  my  feet,  and  when  I  joined  them  in 
the  parlor  I  was  a  new  man  in  my  fresh  linen  and  shore-going 
togs. 


BLA  THFORD.  5 

At  the  table  I  did  most  of  the  talk.  It  is  a  narrow  horizon 
that  bounds  scarce  more  than  hens  and  a  churchyard  and  a 
village  pump,  yet  life  goes  but  little  beyond  such  things  in  the 
old  parish  of  Blathford.  I  spoke  of  the  ports  I  had  visited, 
described  icebergs  and  gales  of  wind,  the  whale  spouting  its 
fountain  to  the  moon  under  the  line,  and  the  captured  albatross 
off  the  Horn  with  a  missive  from  a  shipwrecked  company 
under  its  wing.  My  mother  could  not  eat  for  listening  ;  Kate 
Darnley's  black  eyes  glowed  as  they  fastened  themselves  upon 
me  ;  sometimes  my  father  smiled,  and  occasionally  an  expres- 
sion of  incredulity  mingled  with  the  sweetness  of  his  looks. 

"  Oh,  that  I  were  a  man  !  "  cried  out  Kate,  dropping  her 
knife  and  fork  to  clasp  her  white  hands  on  a  level  with  her 
face. 

"  Yes,  indeed  !  "  said  my  mother.     "  A  young  man." 

"  Would  you  be  a  sailor  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Not  I.  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Morgan,  I  would  travel  and  see  the 
world  and  settle  in  the  best  part  of  it,  which  certainly  is  not 
England,"  answered  the  girl. 

"  How  long  are  you  ashore  for,  Charles  ?  "  asked  my  father. 

"  Haven't  you  heard  the  news  ?  "  said  I. 

"  What  ?  "  cried  my  mother  eagerly. 

"  Old  John  Back's  dead  and  his  five  ships  are  sold.  His 
son's  realized  everything,  down  to  the  oldest  of  the  office 
stools,  and  has  gone  abroad  to  live.  The  firm's  at  an  end — 
knocked  clean  into  staves.  A  pity,  for  I've  been  counting  all 
this  voyage  on  old  Johnny  giving  me  command  next  time." 

"  I  had  heard  that  old  Mr.  Back  was  ill,"  said  my  father, 
"  but  had  no  idea  he  was  dead.  Poor  old  Mr.  Back  ?  He 
received  us  very  kindly  when  we  called  upon  him  at  Bristol. 
But  existence  at  Blathford  is  the  life  of  an  oyster.  Little  or 
nothing  of  news  drains  through  the  shell  of  the  placid  year." 

"  Well,  dear,  here  is  a  comfortable  home  for  you,"  said  my 
mother. 

"  I  shall  spend  some  time  with  you,"  said  I.  "  Mean  viles  I 
keeps  mine  vedder  eye  lifting,  as  Yon  says.  I'll  stop  till  I've 
passed  as  master.  I  deserve  command,  and  mean  to  get  it  if 
I  can.  And  after  such  a  sickening  spell  of  brine  as  I'm  fresh 
from,  a  few  weeks  or  even  months  of  the  scent  of  the  milk- 
maid  '11  not  hurt  me." 

After  dinner  I  went  to  my  chest  and  brought  down  some 
trifles  of  curiosities.  I  gave  Kate  Darnley  a  Chinese  silver 
brooch,  and  I  had  not  guessed  how  pretty  she  was  till  she 
thanked  me  for  the  flimsy  fal-lal.  It  was  the  first  night  of  my 
home-coming  after  a  long  absence,  even  as  seafaring  then 


6  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

went,  and  my  father  and  mother  sat  up  in  celebration  till 
eleven  o'clock  to  "  make  a  night  of  it,"  as  the  dear  souls  said. 
My  father  smoked  not,  neither  did  he  drink.  I  did  both ;  so 
too  did  my  father's  curate,  who  looked  in  at  eight  to  ask  a 
question,  and  was  invited  to  remain  that  light  supper  might  be 
spread  before  him.  This  curate,  as  the  evening  advanced, 
looked  with  animation  at  Kate  Darnley,  and  the  ejaculations 
and  observations  which  my  stories  and  recollections  provoked 
him  into  he  addressed  chiefly  to  her.  But  her  ears  and  eyes 
were  mine  that  evening.  My  talk  put  a  spirit  into  her  looks 
which  attracted  my  calm  mother's  notice. 

After  everybody  was  gone  to  bed  and  I  sat  alone  smoking 
my  last  pipe,  I  could  not  help  thinking  how  great  a  pity  it  was 
that  so  fine  a  young  woman  should  be  alone  in  the  world, 
obliged  to  get  a  living  by  drudging  as  a  governess,  and  with 
no  brighter  prospect  than  marriage. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KATE   DARNLEY. 

IN  this  first  week  of  my  being  at  home  I  never  opened  a 
book  nor  troubled  myself  with  a  professional  thought.  I  had 
received  a  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  when  I  left  the  bark 
Wanderer  at  Bristol ;  the  money  represented  about  forty 
months  of  service  as  mate,  less  certain  odds  and  ends  of 
clothes  and  advances.  I  was  a  sailor,  but  no  sailor's  sailor, 
without  taste  for  the  grog  shop  and  the  bully-in-the-alley 
diversions.  I  hated  the  Jack  of  the  crimps,  the  salt  and  sav- 
age pet  and  despair  of  the  waterside  missionary,  the  hairy 
ruffian  who,  in  fur  cap  and  half  Wellingtons,  with  a  hanging 
face  and  eyes  on  fire  with  over-proof  rum,  lurches  with  scowls 
and  drunken  yelps  through  the  slums  of  the  dock  and  shipping 
districts. 

The  mere  being  in  the  country  with  miles  of  meadows  and 
hedges  betwixt  one  and  the  wash  of  the  breakers,  betwixt  one 
and  the  sickening  rattle  of  the  lifting  cranes  of  the  quayside, 
and  the  loud  melancholy  pulse  of  the  capstan  pawls,  was  a  huge 
delight  of  itself.  I  let  the  whole  spirit  of  the  country  sink 
into  me  by  lounging  and  roaming  about  after  the  manner  of 
the  poet  Wordsworth,  who  waited  for  sentimental  ideas  wher- 
ever he  found  a  stile  or  a  tombstone  to  sit  upon.  I'd  lay  for 
hours  on  my  back  in  a  field,  with  my  pipe  stuck  up  out  of  my 
mouth,  and  a  straw  hat  rakishly  perched  on  my  nose,  and  not 


KATE   DARNLEY.  7 

only  forget  that  I  was  a  sailor,  but  even  that  I  was  a  man,  in 
watching  the  clouds  slide  overhead,  in  smelling  the  sweets  in 
the  wind,  in  hearkening  to  the  buzzing,  barking,  lowing  noises 
of  the  land.  Yes,  at  such  times  I  was  nearer  being  a  daisy 
than  a  man,  and  was  certainly  much  more  of  a  haystack  than 
a  sailor. 

I  gave  Kate  Darnley  a  wide  berth  at  the  start,  conceiving 
that  my  father's  curate  had  a  leaning  that  way,  and  that  if  I 
thrust  in  I  might  lose  her  the  chance  of  a  husband.  But  on 
hearing  from  my  mother  that  the  curate  was  engaged  to  be 
married  to  a  young  lady  who  lived  at  Manchester,  who  had 
been  waiting  for  him  already  two  years,  and  who,  it  seems, 
was  willing  to  go  on  waiting  for  the  hopeful  young  man  for- 
ever, I  made  up  my  mind  that  Kate  should  have  a  jolly  time 
of  it  during  the  few  days  she  remained  at  the  parsonage.  I 
took  her  on  the  river  along  with  a  basket  filled  with  cham- 
pagne and  good  things,  got  by  sending  Farmer  Thompson's 
man  in  the  gig  over  to  a  considerable  town  of  shops  and  streets. 
Thus  we  spent  one  long  day.  I  hired  Thompson's  gig  and 
drove  the  girl  about  the  country.  She  wanted  to  see  the 
ocean,  and  we  went  by  rail  to  a  part  of  the  coast  that  lay  some 
twenty  miles  from  Blathford.  Here  there  would  have  been 
ocean  enough  to  look  at  had  the  tide  made ;  unhappily  the 
sea  kept  stubbornly  low  throughout  our  visit ;  we  saw  no  more 
than  a  gleam  of  blue  beyond  the  miles  of  slimy  mud.  No 
marine  prospect  was  ever  so  little  like  the  ocean.  I  laughed 
at  the  efforts  of  the  town  in  which  we  found  ourselves  to  give 
itself  a  marine  character,  by  boats  which  were  seldom  water 
borne,  by  a  pier  which  was  seldom  water  washed.  The  rocks 
looked  artificial ;  the  boatmen  sprawled  with  the  airs  of  London 
cabmen  disguised  in  fearnought  breeches.  Yet  Kate's  dark 
eyes  were  eager  and  bright  with  pleasure  as  she  gazed  at  the 
distant  streak  of  blue  salt  water. 

"  It  is  the  horizon,  at  all  events,"  she  exclaimed,  "  and 
behind  it  are  all  the  wonders  you  have  told  us  about." 

"  They  are  wonders  until  they  are  realized." 

"  Nothing  bears  realization,"  she  answered.  "  Heaven  itself 
should  disappoint  if  we  are  to  judge  by  what  we  find  out  down 
here."  She  curled  her  lip,  and  her  cheeks  brightened  with  red 
as  though  to  some  sudden  passion  of  suppressed  thought. 
After  a  minute  she  brought  her  eyes  away  from  the  distant 
sea  line,  and  asked  me  if  I  could  give  her  any  information 
about  Australia. 

"  What  sort  of  information  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  Tell  me  the  parts  you  have  visited." 


8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Sydney  and  Melbourne." 

"  What's  to  be  done  in  those  cities,  Mr.  Morgan  ?  " 

"  If  you  ask  me  what  a  man  may  do,  I  answer  all  that  may 
become  him  ;  if  he  dares  do  more  there's  plenty  to  be  done. 
Labor  that  gets  fifteen  shillings  a  week  here  gets  ten  shillings 
a  day  there.  One  of  our  crew  at  Sydney  went  ashore  over- 
night, and  did  not  turn  up  in  the  morning.  The  skipper 
charged  the  absent  seaman's  wages  with  the  ten  shillings  he 
paid  to  a  laborer  off  the  Circular  Quay.  If  I  was  a  very 
young  man — which  I  am,  by  the  way — and  hated  the  sea,  I'd 
perpetrate  the  most  harmless  of  the  crimes  that  are  visited  by 
transportation,  and  get  a  free  passage  to  the  Antipodes  and  a 
large  start  in  life  on  a  ticket  of  leave." 

"Would  it  not  be  as  easy  to  emigrate?"  said  she,  with  a 
smile  which  made  way  quickly  for  a  grave,  earnest  look. 

"  I  know  more  about  convicts  than  emigrants,"  said  I. 
"The  convict  on  his  arrival  is  provided  with  lodgings,  food, 
and  occupation  ;  I  can't  say  what  becomes  of  the  emigrant." 

"  But  many  people  of  all  sorts  are  every  year  emigrating  to 
America  and  Australia." 

"  Of  a  good  many  sorts." 

"  I've  heard  of  people  who  were  as  homeless  in  this  country 
as  those  clouds  are  up  in  the  sky  there,"  said  she,  pointing 
upward,  and  following  the  direction  of  her  finger  with  her  dark 
eyes,  "  finding  a  home  and  friends  in  Australia  and  prosper- 
ing. Gentility  is  no  restriction  in  the  colonies — is  it?" 

"  No  restrictions  are  placed  upon  the  little  that's  exported," 
I  answered. 

"A  gentleman,  a  lady  may  do  in  Australia  what  they  would 
rather  die  than  do  here." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  said  I.  "  The  snob  long  ago  saddled  the 
British  lion  and  still  rides  the  beast,  trampling  on  oppor- 
tunity." 

"  What  chances  do  the  Australian  colonies  offer  young 
women,  Mr.  Morgan  ?  " 

"  Marriage." 

"  I  don't  mean  that." 

"  Are  you  thinking  of  emigrating?" 

"  I  would  rather  be  a  scullery  maid  behind  that  blue  line 
there,"  said  she,  looking  at  the  narrow  sweep  of  distant  water, 
"  than  a  governess  in  this  country." 

I  pitied  the  fine  girl,  but  held  my  peace. 

"Where  can  one  find  out  all  about  the  Australian  colonies  ?  " 
she  asked. 

"  I'll  inquire,  and  v\'hatever  is  published  I'll  send  you." 


KATE  DARN  LEY.  g 

She  thanked  me. 

"  Have  you  any  friends  or  relatives  in  Australia  ?  " 

"  None." 

"  None  in  England  ?  " 

"  None  in  the  world.  When  my  father  died  I  was  alone." 
With  a  sudden  smile  she  added,  "  I  should  not  have  said  so 
much.  I  have  friends  in  your  father  and  mother.  But  they 
are  not  friends  in  the  sense  your  question  implied." 

"  Don't  think  of  emigrating  without  taking  all  the  advice 
you  can  get,  and  without  giving  the  subject  plenty  of  thought." 

She  bit  her  lip  and  clasped  her  hands  behind  her,  and 
slightly  swayed  her  body  as  though  advice  vexed  her.  Then 
with  another  of  her  quick  smiles  she  asked  me  if  I  could  tell 
her  how  emigrants  are  treated  at  sea,  what  sort  of  ships  they 
are  dispatched  in,  the  cost  of  the  passage,  a  person's  require- 
ments in  respect  of  clothes  and  the  like,  how  long  the  voyage 
occupied,  how  many  of  a  company  were  put  into  one  ship. 

I  was  able  to  answer  some  of  these  questions,  and  our  con- 
versation on  this  subject  ended  only  when  we  had  entered  a 
railway  carriage  and  were  in  motion  for  Blathford. 

In  some  of  our  rambles,  down  to  the  day  of  her  leaving  us, 
she  talked  again  about  emigration  and  the  opportunities  a  new 
country  offered  to  poor  and  friendless  people,  but  never  after- 
ward was  she  so  much  in  earnest  as  when  we  had  stood 
together  looking  at  the  distant  streak  of  sea.  However,  in 
fulfillment  of  my  promise  I  wrote  to  a  firm  in  London,  who 
sent  me  a  book  and  a  letter  full  of  information  ;  these  reached 
me  on  the  day  of  her  leaving  us,  and  she  thanked  me  grate- 
fully and  packed  them  in  her  box. 

I  drove  her  to  the  station  in  old  Thompson's  gig,  and  was 
sorry  to  part  with  her.  She  and  I  had  been  much  together 
during  her  few  days  of  holiday.  I  admired  her,  liked  her 
manners  and  looks,  and  relished  her  talk,  which  often  tasted  to 
the  palate  of  my  mind  like  a  sharp  and  yet  a  sweet  and  pleas- 
ant wine  to  one's  lips.  And  then,  again,  I  felt  sorry  for  the 
poor  girl  who  was  going  forth  into  a  friendless  life,  out  of  the 
repose  and  gentle  pleasures  and  simple  affections  of  such  a 
home  as  she  had  passed  her  little  holiday  in. 

Well,  I  bade  her  good-by  and  drove  home,  and  I  am  bound 
to  say  that  after  she  had  been  gone  two  or  three  days  she 
went  clean  out  of  my  head.  Indeed,  I  had  something  else  to 
think  of.  I  held  a  mate's  certificate,  and  not  very  much  more 
than  that  spoke  to  was  needed  to  qualify  me  for  a  captain  ; 
yet  the  little  involved  some  study,  and  to  make  sure  of  myself 
I  went  two  or  three  times  a  week  down  to  Bristol  to  read  in 


10  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

navigation  and  do  other  nautical  work  with  an  old  retired  sea 
captain.  At  the  end  of  two  months  from  the  date  of  my 
arrival  home  I  presented  myself  and  easily  passed.  This  was 
in  1850.  Certificates  of  competency  were  made  compulsory  in 
January,  1851. 

But  passing  was  not  getting  employment.  For  some  con- 
siderable while  nothing  better  than  a  second  mate's  post  fell 
in  my  way.  Not  till  the  month  of  February,  which  brought 
me  into  the  year  1851,  was  I  successful  in  finding  a  situation, 
though  I  had  looked  about  me  in  the  London  Docks  as  well 
as  in  Bristol. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CAPTAIN   CADMAN. 

IT  fell  out  thus  :  I  was  on  a  visit  in  the  last  named  city  to 
my  old  friend  the  sea  captain  whom  I  had  read  with.  He 
rented  a  comfortable  small  house  near  the  docks.  I  had  come 
from  Blathford  in  the  morning  intending  to  make  further 
inquiries  after  a  ship,  and  had  looked  in  on  Captain  Brad- 
ford for  a  yarn  and  a  pipe,  meaning  to  kill  no  more  than  an 
hour.  He  asked  me  to  stop  and  take  a  cut  of  boiled  beef 
with  him  and  his  niece.  While  I  hesitated,  questioning  the 
wisdom  of  letting  slip  good  time  by  eating  boiled  beef  with 
the  skipper  till  perhaps  it  should  be  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, we  heard  a  knocking  on  the  door,  and  Bradford's  niece, 
looking  in,  said,  "  Uncle,  can  you  see  Captain  Cadman  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  says  Bradford.  "  Walk  in,  skipper  ! "  he  called 
out,  and  Captain  Cadman,  who  stood  in  the  passage,  stepped 
into  the  little  parlor. 

He  was  a  tall  man  with  reddish  hair  and  a  reddish  dye  of 
skin  that  was  yet  not  sunburn  ;  his  eyes  were  small,  his  nose 
long  and  pointed,  his  beard  trimmed  so  as  to  correspond  with 
the  run  of  his  nose — that  is,  it  stood  out  like  a  fan,  the  handle 
at  you  ;  at  the  full  his  elongated  physiognomy  shaped  itself 
into  a  very  wedge  of  a  face.  In  fact  then  he  had  the  look  of 
a  goat,  all  the  meaning  of  him  in  his  eyes.  His  legs  were 
extraordinarily  long,  his  feet  immense  ;  he  wore  square-toed 
shoes,  and  his  knees  were  defined  sharp  as  the  joint  of  a  parr 
of  compasses  through  his  thin  cloth  trousers.  His  body  was 
wrapped  up  in  a  somewhat  rusty  monkey  jacket.  He  threw  a 
large  black  soft  hat  upon  a  couch,  and  shook  hands  with  Cap- 
tain Bradford. 


CAPTAIN  CADMAN.  II 

I  supposed  he  had  looked  in  on  some  private  matter  and 
got  up  to  go. 

"  Don't  leave  on  my  account,  sir,"  said  he  in  a  high-pitched, 
not  strong,  but  rather  greasy  voice.  "  Bradford,  I  hope  I 
don't  disturb  you  ? " 

"  Sit  down — there's  no  disturbance,"  replied  the  other. 

"  I  want  your  opinion.  Here's  Flaxman's  account.  I'm 
not  going  to  let  Mr.  Fletcher  be  swindled.  Now  if  this  aint 
a  swindle " 

He  pulled  a  folded  paper  from  his  side  pocket  and  opened 
it  into  a  long  sheet  full  of  writing  and  figures. 

"  Mark  the  total.  One  eighty-eight — thirteen — one.  Where 
do  the  one  come  in  ?  In  one  penn'orth  of  rope  yarn,  is  it  ?  " 
Here  he  laughed,  and  the  noise  was  more  like  the  slopping  of 
a  cook's  bucket  of  slush  drained  over  the  side  than  any  imag- 
inable explosion  of  human  merriment.  "  Run  an  eye  over  the 
items,"  he  continued.  "  What  was  the  valley  of  a  t'gallant 
jewel  block  in  your  time  ?  And  h'ant  fids  jumped  since  you 
was  born  if  Flaxman  don't  tell  lies,  which  he's  incapable  of 
anything  else  ?  I'd  fit  out  a  fifty-gun  frigate  for — I  was 
a-going  to  say — almost  half  the  money,  and  chuck  in  three  suits 
of  canvas  for  t'other  half." 

"  Let  me  read — let  me  read  !  "  grumbled  Captain  Bradford, 
putting  on  his  spectacles. 

After  a  minute  or  two  of  silence,  during  which  Captain  Cad- 
man  eyed  me  all  over,  finally  settling  his  eyes  upon  my  face 
with  a  critical,  screwed-up,  half-insinuating,  half-interrogating 
expression  in  them,  he  said  : 

"  A  sailor,  sir  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Pretty  fresh  ashore  ?  " 

"Since  August." 

"  A  long  spell ! "  he  exclaimed,  looking  me  over  again. 
"  Took  sick,  perhaps  ? " 

"  Never  had  a  day's  illness  since  I  landed." 

"  'Long  to  Bristol  ? " 

"  No." 

"What  was  your  last  ship,  sir  ?  " 

"The  Wanderer:' 

"  D'ye  mean  old  Back's  bark  ?  " 

I  nodded. 

"  I'm  in  command  of  the  little  Hebe  that  belonged  to  old 
Back,"  said  he. 

"  I  know  the  vessel  well.  Getting  on  in  years,  though,  isn't 
she,  captain  ?" 


12  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Oh  !  "  he  exclaimed,  with  his  mirthless,  sloppy  laugh, 
"  don't  ever  mention  the  years  of  a  ship  or  a  woman.  Neither 
gets  old.  Both  can  keep  all  on  repairing,  yer  know." 

All  this  while  old  Bradford  was  diligently  reading  the 
rigger's  account,  his  square  white  eyebrows  knitted  into  a 
frown  of  deep  interest  over  his  magnified  eyes. 

"  You  was  away,  I  reckon,"  continued  Captain  Cadman, 
"  when  old  Back  gasped  his  last  ?  His  vessels  was  put  up 
and  Mr.  Fletcher  bought  the  Hebe." 

"  How  much  ?  " 

"  'Twixt  you  and  me  and  the  pump,  sir,  for  as  much  as  she's 
worth.  After  she  was  docked — oh,  my  precious  eyes  !  "  He 
raised  his  hands  and  groaned.  "  That"  he  continued,  point- 
ing to  the  document  in  Bradford's  hands,  "  is  just  a  muskeety 
bite  compared  to  the  great  snake  sting  of  the  whole  boiling. 
New  sheathing,  new  starnpost,  new  wheel,  twenty  foot  of  new 
keel  amidships,  new  main  topmast " 

"  Cadman,"  here  said  Captain  Bradford,  putting  the  rigger's 
bill  down  upon  the  table.  "  D'ye  know,  I  don't  think  this  so 
very  unreasonable.  Why  !  I  see  he's  put  in  a  complete  set  of 
lower  fore  shrouds,"  and  here  he  named  several  items  of  ship's 
furniture. 

Captain  Cadman  slowly  shook  his  head. 

"  Knock  off  thirty  per  cent,  and  robbery's  still  the  order  of 
the  day." 

A  discussion  followed.  Captain  Bradford  selected  a  num- 
ber of  items  and  justified  them  by  copious  extracts  from  his 
own  experiences.  Captain  Cadman  seemed  to  protest  with 
heat.  I  say  seemed.  He  applied  many  injurious  words  to 
the  master  rigger.  But  it  struck  me  all  the  same  that  he  was 
acting  a  part.  I  guessed  that  Bradford  and  Flaxman  being 
friends,  Cadman's  scheme  was  to  get  the  captain  to  use  his 
influence  with  the  rigger  to  cheapen  the  bill,  himself  being 
satisfied  that  the  charges  were  just.  After  a  while  he  put  the 
bill  in  his  pocket.  Bradford  took  a  decanter  of  spirits  out  of 
a  cupboard  and  the  three  of  us  drank  to  one  another.  It  was 
hard  upon  twelve  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  was  still  con- 
sidering whether  or  not  to  partake  of  my  friend's  boiled  beef, 
due,  as  I  understood,  at  one. 

"When  d'ye  sail,  Cadman  ?"  said  Bradford,  filling  a  pipe 
and  pushing  the  jar  of  tobacco  across  the  table. 

"  Tenth  prox.,  all  being  well." 

"  Got  a  full  cargo,  I  hope  ?" 

"  Up  to  the  knocker,  as  cargoes  go.  But  things  are  not  as 
they  was  in  your  time,  Bradford." 


CAPTAIN  CADMAN.  13 

"  I've  been  down  to  the  wash-streak  before  now,"  said  the 
old  captain,  with  a  slow  smile.  "  I've  known  what  it  is  to 
crawl  into  the  rigging  half-mast  high  in  a  gale  of  wind  to  find 
out  what's  become  of  the  ship." 

"  All  smother  and  yeast  high  as  the  sheer  poles.  I  know — 
I  know,"  exclaimed  Cadman,  whose  voice  seemed  even  more 
gurgling  and  greasy  now  that  he  was  smoking.  "  Them  was 
the  good  old  times.  Now  they're  always  a-coming." 

'  What's  your  port  ?  "  said  Bradford. 

'  Table  Bay.     Mr.  Fletcher  goes  with  us." 

*  To  look  after  you  ?  "  said  Captain  Bradford  dryly. 

'  For  his  health,"  answered  Cadman. 

'  He'll  be  missed  till  he  comes  safe  home,"  said  Captain 
Bradford  with  an  ironical  cast  of  face.  "  There'll  be  a  little 
more  nakedness  and  a  little  more  hunger  in  Bristol  till  his  light 
shines  upon  us  once  more.  The  psalm  won't  go  up  quite  so 
strong  on  the  Sabbath,  and  there'll  be  one  yellow  composed 
countenance,  and  one  shining  new  black  suit  of  clothes,  and 
a  tall  hat  the  less  on  Sundays  while  that  good  man's  missing." 

Cadman  without  moving  his  head  turned  his  little  eyes  upon 
me. 

"  Is  the  Hebe  the  only  vessel  Mr.  Fletcher  owns  ? "  I 
asked. 

"  The  only  vessel,"  answered  Cadman. 

"If  you  weren't  in  command  I'd  ask  Jem  Fletcher  to  give 
the  charge  to  my  young  friend  here,"  said  Captain  Bradford. 
"  He  wants  a  post,  and's  too  good  a  sailor  to  be  kept  ashore 
loafing  for  lack  of  a  job." 

Again  without  turning  his  head,  Captain  Cadman  brought 
his  little  eyes  to  bear  on  me. 

"  The  brig  wants  a  mate — she's  got  a  capt'n,"  said  he. 

"  D'ye  offer  him  the  berth,  Cadman  ?  If  so,  bloomed, 
Morgan,  if  I  wouldn't  close  if  I  was  you,"  called  out  old 
Bradford. 

"  I'm  in  want  of  a  mate,  certainly,"  said  Captain  Cadman, 
letting  his  words  drop  slowly,  while  he  held  his  pipe  to  his 
mouth,  and  now  turning  upon  me  the  full  of  his  snout-shaped 
face  that  he  might  eye  me  all  over  very  critically  and  deliber- 
ately. "  But  that's  one  of  them  needs  you're  able  to  supply 
without  call  to  go  upon  your  knees  and  beg  and  pray." 

"Take  the  offer,  Morgan,"  said  Captain  Bradford.  "The 
voyage  is  short  and  agreeable,  pay  good,  table  excellent,  and 
if  Fletcher  goes  along,  then  I'll  warrant  the  whole  job  free 
from  vulgarity,  as  the  music  halls  say  when  they're  planning 
something  extra  coarse." 


14  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  There's  been  no  offer  as  yet,"  I  answered,  laughing. 

All  this  while  Cadman  eyed  me.  I  seemed  to  see  his  mind 
in  motion  behind  the  fixed  and  contrived  expression  of  his 
face,  like  the  legs  of  actors  under  the  curtain  that's  not  quite 
down.  I  could  swear  his  considerations  about  me  went  fur- 
ther than  my  mere  professional  eligibility. 

"  How  old  are  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Three-and-twenty." 

"  What's  your  qualifications  ?  " 

"  He  holds  a  master's  certificate,"  broke  in  Bradford,  "  and 
is  six  months  home  from  over  three  years  of  washing  about 
in  the  Wanderer.  What  more  would  you  have,  Cadman,  if  it 
isn't  a  whale  ?  " 

But  Cadman  was  wary,  persistent,  and  critical  in  his  inqui- 
ries. He  asked  who  my  parents  were,  where  I  was  born,  if  I 
swore  and  drank  hard,  and  so  forth.  I  resented  nothing.  In 
fact,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  if  the  berth  was  offered  to  accept 
it,  and  I  hoped  it  would  come  while  I  sat,  for  then  I  should 
return  to  Blathford  in  an  easier  temper  than  I  had  enjoyed 
for  some  weeks  past.  But  the  offer  was  hot  to  be  made  on 
the  spot. 

"  Well,"  said  Captain  Cadman,  pocketing  his  pipe,  "I'll  talk 
the  matter  over  with  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  you  shall  hear  from  me. 
What's  your  address  ?  "  , 

I  scribbled  it  on  a  piece  of  paper. 

"  How  runs  the  yarn  in  the  shape  of  pay  ?  "  said  Bradford. 

"  Four  pun'  fifteen,"  answered  Camden  shortly. 

"It's  the  old  story,"  said  Bradford.  "Wages  go  down 
while  everything  else  goes  up.  Everything  else  going  up 
means  money  for  them  who  sell.  Why,  then,  should  wages  be 
alvvavs  a-lowering  and  a-lowering  ?  " 

"  Ah,  that's  it !  "  said  Captain  Cadman.  "  That's  one  of 
them  riddles  that  Mr.  Fletcher's  given  to  trying  his  hand  at." 

We  were  interrupted  by  a  servant  girl  looking  in  to  ask  if 
she  might  lay  the  cloth  for  dinner.  Cadman  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  partake  of  some  boiled  beef.  Presently  a  fine  smok- 
ing silver-side  was  placed  upon  the  table  ;  Bradford's  niece 
carved,  and  we  ate  and  drank.  In  the  course  of  the  meal 
Captain  Bradford  proposed  that  after  dinner  we  should  go  down 
to  the  docks  and  have  a  look  at  the  Hebe.  Captain  Cadman 
was  quite  agreeable,  and  shortly  after  two  we  put  on  our  hats 
and  the  three  of  us  sallied  forth. 

Though  I  had  followed  the  sea  for  years,  I  loved  the  life,  and 
by  the  life  I  don't  mean  the  discipline  and  the  wet  and  the 
bad  food  and  the  poor  pay,  but  the  freedom  of  the  great  breast 


CAP  T A IX  C A  DM  AN.  15 

of  ocean,  the  remarkable  beauty  of  a  ship  in  full  sail,  and  all 
the  rich  poetry  that  in  the  boundless  solitudes  of  the  deep  you 
read  in  the  book  of  the  heavens  radiant  with  stars,  or  glorious 
with  the  newly  risen  sun,  or  terrible  with  swollen  black  thunder- 
clouds torn  with  fire. 

But  one  condition  of  the  life  I  ever  abhorred,  and  that  is  the 
dock  part  of  it.  You  see  the  business  of  the  deep  in  its  rough 
and  clamorous  making.  Everything  belonging  to  the  sea  life 
that's  coarse  and  commonplace,  nasty  and  noisy,  is  there. 
Ships  are  wrecked  by  the  riggers,  decks  are  fouled  with  stains 
of  cargo,  drunken  sailors  in  skin  caps  and  mossy  breasts  sprawl 
about  the  quay-side,  quarrelsome  and  obscene,  and  the  hollow 
holds  of  the  wooden  and  iron  fabrics  re-echo  the  blasphemies 
of  ruffianly  lumpers.  Nor  do  mates  and  captains  look  the 
same  in  dock  as  they  do  at  sea  ;  a  something  in  their  dress, 
a  peculiarity  in  their  strut,  makes  the  difference  that  is  quickly 
distinguished  by  the  practiced  eye  ;  the  brown  of  their  com- 
plexion is  faded,  they  seem  somehow  at  a  loss,  and  though  you 
see  a  captain  go  over  the  side  into  the  cabin  of  his  ship  in  dock, 
he  does  not,  somehow,  bear  himself  as  her  master.  He  is  not 
as  he  will  be  anon  when  the  canvas  is  spread  over  his  head 
and  the  soft  milky  foam  is  buzzing  alongside.  The  life  of  the 
sea  does  not  begin  until  the  docks  are  well  astern. 

The  Bristol  docks  are  curiosities  as  marine  receptacles 
because  of  the  topgallant  and  royal  yards  and  pulling  bunting 
they  lift  above  the  house  tops  of  the  city.  You  watch  a  man 
furling  a  sail  past  a  church  spire,  and  a  topgallant  mast  slowly 
descends  (to  the  melody  of  a  sea  language  happily  silent  in 
the  distance)  seemingly  close  beside  a  chimney  stack. 

It  was  a  clear,  bright,  cold  February  day.  A  noise  of 
some  local  celebration  was  in  the  air  ;  the  chimes  of  many 
bells  slanted  through  and  quarreled  down  the  frosty  wind  and 
I  heard  the  sulky  throbbing  of  a  big  drum  and  the  strains  of  a 
brass  band.  The  docks  were  full  of  vessels  ;  the  picture  was 
such  an  one  of  large  and  busy  trade  as  you  shall  not  see  in 
Bristol  to-day.  We  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  wall  and  looked 
at  the  Hebe  before  stepping  aboard. 

She  was  a  brig  of  about  290  tons,  an  old-fashioned  ship 
built  probably  about  thirty  years  before  this  time.  That 
a  sailor  would  guess  by  her  beam  and  butter-box  run,  her 
immensely  square  stern,  apple-shaped  bows,  and  cutwater 
curving  at  the  stem  head  into  the  nude  bust  and  face  of 
a  woman — a  device  of  the  old  sort :  painted  staring  eyes, 
red  hair,  cheeks  rouged  into  strict  correspondence  with 
forecastle  taste  in  such  matters.  This  Hebe  was  no  beautv. 


1 6  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Her  immensely  thick  bulwarks  were  almost  the  height  of  a 
man,  she  had  large  heavy  tops  which  somehow  gave  her  an 
over-sparred  appearance.  Her  decks  ran  flush  or  level  from 
the  eyes  to  the  taffrail. 

"  A  good,  old-fashioned,  roomy  hold  down  there  for  rats," 
said  Bradford,  with  a  sarcastic  laugh. 

"  She  was  built  in  your  time,  skipper,"  exclaimed  Cadman 
in  a  stealthy  voice,  turning  his  queer  little  eyes  upon  me. 

"Yes,  and  so  was  the  Thames"  retorted  Bradford,  naming 
one  of  the  handsomest  of  John  Company's  ships. 

We  went  aboard,  and  Cadman  conducted  us  into  the  cabin — 
stateroom  we  then  called  it.  I  stared  about  me  ;  every  sailor 
looks  with  interest  at  a  ship,  at  the  outside  and  at  the  inside 
of  her.  The  cabin  was  a  dusky  interior,  spite  of  the  large, 
almost  flat,  skylight  overhead.  It  contained  seven  sleeping 
berths,  three  little  ones  of  a  side,  and  one  big  one  athwart 
under  the  wheel.  In  her  day  the  Hebe  had  been  a  West  Indian 
passenger  as  well  as  cargo  boat ;  had  carried  several  big  pots 
to  and  fro  ;  had  even  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  favorite  trader. 

"If  these  dry  planks  could  talk,"  said  Bradford,  standing 
on  wide  legs  in  the  middle  of  the  cabin,  and  turning  his  jolly, 
mottled,  broad-beamed  face  about  with  his  hands  thrust  deep 
in  his  capacious  breeches  pockets,  "there's  nothing  afloat 
fastened  with  bolts  and  trunnels  that  could  spin  more  hair- 
lifting  yarns.  Morgan,  this  same  craft  was  once  boarded  by 
pirates  within  thirty  miles  of  Morant  Point.  They  cut  the 
throats  of  the  master  and  mates  and  three  men  passengers ; 
flung  the  crew  along  with  two  delicate  ladies,  people  of  wealth 
and  position  out  in  Jamaica,  into  the  hold  ;  clapped  the  hatch 
on  and  battened  it  down  ;  next  they  set  fire  to  the  galley  and 
went  away,  leaving  smoke  enough  to  persuade  'em  the  vessel 
was  in  flames.  The  fire  went  out  of  itself,  but  the  hatch  cover 
sat  tight  'twixt  its  coamings.  The  brig  was  fallen  in  with 
ten  days  later,  and  when  the  people  who  boarded  her  lifted 
the  hatch  they  found  eighteen  dead  bodies  in  every  posture  of 
death  agony.  Lord,  the  blue,  fast-mortifying  faces,  with  the 
torments  of  the  thirst  which  had  killed  them — the  thirst  and 
the  heat  and  the  suffocation  in  that  hold — still  showing  like  a 
living  expression  in  the  poor  Christian  carrion  !  Bruised  if 
I'd  like  to  sail  with  you,  Cadman." 

We  left  the  brig,  and  in  walking  in  the  direction  of  Captain 
Bradford's  house  we  met  a  stout,  tall  man  whom  Bradford 
shook  his  hand  at,  calling,  "How  d'ye  do,  Fletcher?  We 
are  fresh  from  the  Hebe,  You've  made  a  good  job  of  her, 
Fletcher," 


CAPTAIN  CABMAN.  17 

Cadman  left  us  to  speak  to  him,  and  Bradford  and  I  waited. 

"  Turn  yourself  that  Fletcher  may  take  a  good  view  of  you," 
said  Bradford.  "They're  talking  about  you." 

From  the  old  skipper's  ridicule  of  Fletcher  I  had  expected 
to  see  a  different  sort  of  person — something  long  and  yellow, 
well-soaped  looks,  and  a  suit  of  rusty  black.  Fletcher  was  a 
tall,  big  man,  with  a  pair  of  strong  whiskers,  a  small  pear- 
shaped  nose,  and  a  huge  chin  betwixt  two  points  of  stick-up 
collar.  He  wore  a  low  pot  hat,  and  was  dressed  in  a  suit 
of  gray.  He  talked  with  Cadman,  and  they  both  looked 
toward  me. 

"  I  had  thought  to  see  something  of  the  devil  dodger's  cut 
in  your  friend  there,"  said  1  to  Bradford. 

"  He  sings  loud  in  church,"  he  answered  ;  "  has  a  name  for 
charity,  but  you'd  need  a  policeman's  bull's-eye,  I  think,  to 
explore  for  his  gifts.  He  has  failed  twice — once  in  Sheffield, 
and  once  here — yet  manages  to  hold  his  own,  to  maintain  a 
wife  and  family,  to  say  no  more,  and  to  keep  a  good  roof  over 
his  head.  He  has  a  well-furnished  house,  and  brags  of  his 
pictures.  He  is  now  a  ship  owner.  Think  on't !  " 

"  Captain,  you  know  the  people.  Shall  I  close  if  they  offer 
me  the  appointment  ? " 

"  Why,  the  wages  would  degrade  a  footman,  and  there  are 
sweeter  ships  afloat.  But  then,  Morgan,  you  want  a  berth. 
You  may  find  a  command  ready  for  you  on  your  return.  A 
Cape  voyage  won't  run  you  into  six  months.  And  while 
you're  at  sea  you're  keeping  your  hand  in — remember  that. 
What  can  a  sailor  do  ashore  but  spend  his  savings  and  smoke 
tobacco?" 

Here  Fletcher  and  Cadman  parted  ;  the  former  gravely 
flourished  a  farewell  to  Bradford,  and  the  other  joined  us. 
He  said  nothing,  however,  about  engaging  me.  I  just  took 
notice  as  we  walked  that  twice  or  thrice  he  turned  his  face  to 
stare  very  critically,  as  though  he  would  look  far  deeper  than 
the  mere  professional  skin  of  me  went.  I  guessed  this  sort  of 
inspection  was  a  mere  trick  or  habit  of  his,  and  thought  noth- 
ing of  it ;  indeed  he  sent  the  like  searching  glances  at  the  old 
skipper  Bradford,  it  seemed  to  me.  He  quitted  us  at  some 
short  distance  from  the  docks,  first  feeling  in  his  pockets  to 
make  sure  that  he  had  my  address,  and  then  repeating  that  I 
should  hear  from  him. 

I  thanked  old  Bradford  for  his  hospitality  and  for  the  intro- 
duction, and  declining  his  invitation  to  step  in  and  drink  a 
glass,  I  made  my  way  to  the  station  and  so  got  home. 


1 8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

MATE    OF    THE    "  HEBE." 

I  TOLD  my  people  of  what  I  had  been  about  and  the  chance 
I  stood  of  getting  a  berth  as  mate  of  a  brig  called  the  Hebe, 
bound  to  Cape  Town.  My  father  said  I  should  do  well  to 
accept  the  offer  if  it  came.  He  had  noticed  that  I  was  grow- 
ing restless. 

"  Blathford  is  a  dull  place  for  a  young  man,"  said  he. 
"Your  delight  in  the  country  has  passed.  You  are  again 
longing  to  feel  the  fabric  of  a  ship  under  you,  and  to  hear  the 
song  of  the  salt  wind." 

"  There  is  surely  no  hurry,"  said  my  mother.  "  And  though 
Blathford  is  dull,  it  is  safe,  and  you  have  been  happy  at  home, 
Charles.  Stop  till  you  get  command  of  a  fine  ship.  When- 
ever there  is  a  wreck  it  is  a  little  brig." 

"Charles  will  be  wise  to  take  what  he  can  get,"  said  my 
father  softly,  with  one  of  his  sweet  looks.  "You  would  have 
him  a  bishop,  even  while  he  waits  for  a  curacy.  And  remem- 
ber the  words  of  the  old  divine  :  '  Is  it  not  labor  that  makes 
the  garlic  and  the  pulse,  the  sycamore  and  the  cresses,  the 
cheese  of  the  goats  and  the  butter  of  the  sheep  to  be  savory 
and  pleasant  as  the  flesh  of  the  roebuck  or  the  milk  of  the 
kine,  the  marrow  of  oxen  or  the  thighs  of  birds  ? '  " 

"Is  that  a  letter  for  me  ?"  said  I,  going  to  the  mantelpiece. 

"  It  is  from  Kate  and  to  me.  You  may  read  it,"  said  my 
mother. 

The  girl  wrote  that  she  had  taken  another  situation,  where 
she  hoped  to  be  happier,  though  she  would  be  getting  a  little 
less  money.  She  said  she  was  weary  of  teaching. 

"It  is  bitter  hard  that  girls  placed  as  I  am  should  find  in 
this  country  nothing  to  do  outside  educating  children.  I 
am  sorry  now  that  I  wanted  the  courage  to  plunge  boldly  into 
domestic  service.  I  would  far  rather  be  a  housemaid  than  a 
governess  or  a  shop  girl.  The  only  condition  of  that  life 
which  makes  me  shrink  a  bit  when  I  think  of  it  is  the  people 
one  must  associate  with.  How  could  I  bear  to  listen  to  John 
the  footman's  talk  of  the  places  he's  lived  in,  to  hear  Mary  the 
cook  reading  aloud  without  an  aspirate  from  some  vulgar 
weekly  newspaper  or  some  vulgarer  magazine  of  love  stories  ?" 
She  asked  if  I  had  found  a  ship  yet,  and,  if  so,  when  I  sailed. 
There  was  no  reference  in  her  letter  to  her  old  scheme  of 
emigrating. 


MATE   OF    THE   "HEBE."  19 

About  a  week  after  I  had  visited  Bristol  I  heard  from  Mr. 
James  Fletcher.  He  appointed  me  to  the  post  of  chief  mate 
of  the  Hebe,  at  four  pounds  fifteen  a  month.  My  services 
would  not  be  required  until  the  day  before  the  brig  sailed. 
He  had  chosen  me  out  of  a  number,  as  much  because  I  was  a 
clergyman's  son  as  because  of  my  qualifications  (according  to 
Captain  Bradford)  as  a  seaman  and  a  navigator.  He  had  a 
high  opinion  of  ministers  of  all  denominations,  and  peculiarly 
respected  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England.  He  con- 
cluded that,  as  a  clergyman's  son,  pious  sentiments  had  been 
early  instilled  into  me,  and  he  took  it  for  granted  that  I  was 
a  sober,  moral,  God-fearing  young  man.  It  was  his  intention, 
he  said,  to  go  out  in  the  brig  for  his  health,  and  he  hoped  I 
would  spare  no  trouble  to  help  him  and  Captain  Cadman  to 
excite  religious  sentiments  in  the  minds  of  the  crew  and  set 
them  a  good  example  in  all  respects. 

I  found  this  on  the  breakfast  table  and  handed  it  to  my 
father,  who  said  : 

"  He  seems  an  honest,  respectable  gentleman.  I  like  his 
sentiments.  Well  would  it  be  if  all  ship  owners  took  his 
views.  The  degrading  and  senseless  vice  of  swearing  would 
end,  the  name  of  Jack  would  no  longer  be  the  short  for 
debauchery,  the  tender  side  of  the  sailor's  nature  would 
appear,  his  character  then  would  make  the  profession  of  the 
sea  truly  noble." 

"And  how  pleased  English  consuls  would  be  ! "  exclaimed 
my  mother,  one  of  whose  cousins  had  been  consul  at  a  Spanish 
port. 

I  pocketed  the  letter,  and  went  out  of  doors  to  think  over 
it.  I  gave  no  heed  to  Fletcher's  references  to  my  parentage, 
my  morals,  and  so  forth.  Suppose  the  man's  piety  a  sham, 
there  is  a  no  more  ancient  fraud  in  the  world,  and  I  will  say 
this  :  that  if  life  has  never  been  the  better  it  has  never  been 
the  worse  for  it,  for  surely  you  would  rather  have  a  man  be  a 
humbug  in  the  right,  than  a  candid  rogue  in  the  wrong.  A 
man  who  feigns  a  religious  character  must  act  his  part  and 
therefore  can't  help  doing  a  little  good,  though  against  the 
grain.  A  pious  humbug  leers  at  you  as  he  passes  on  his  way 
to  old  Nick,  gives  you  a  bow — if  you  are  poor,  perhaps  a 
penny — all  to  help  him  on  the  road  to  the  devil  ;  but  your 
ingenuous  villain  who  is  too  honest  a  blackguard  to  put  on  a 
religious  face  knocks  you  down  and  walks  on  his  path  to  hell 
over  your  body.  In  fact  there  is  too  much  imposture  every- 
where to  quarrel  with  the  professors  of  one  sort  of  it. 

No  ;  it  was  not  the  fellow's  writing  about  my  helping  him 


20  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

to  make  his  crew  virtuous  and  so  on  that  struck  me  :  it  was  his 
not  wanting  me  on  board  until  the  day  before  the  brig  sailed. 
I  very  well  knew  what  was  expected  of  a  chief  mate.  My 
experience  was  that  when  a  ship  was  in  dock  the  mate  was 
more  in  command  of  her  than  the  captain  himself.  He  was 
everywhere.  Work  came  to  a  stand  unless  he  was  by  to  refer 
to.  He  saw  to  the  stowing  of  the  cargo,  standing  at  the  main 
hatch  and  watching  the  business  as  it  went  forward  ;  he  looked 
after  things  in  fifty  different  directions.  Yet  here  was  I 
requested  not  to  join  the  vessel  I  was  mate  of  till  the  eve  of 
the  day  of  her  hauling  out.  It  was  strange  ;  it  was  something 
new  in  ocean  procedure  ;  but  then  so  much  the  better,  thought 
I,  after  reading  the  letter  a  second  time  ;  three  weeks  of  the 
quiet  parsonage  of  Blathford  with  the  dear  old  folks  for  my 
company,  all  night  in,  and  plenty  of  milk  and  butter,  and 
tender  roast  beef  and  mutton,  delicacies  which  twinkle  and 
vanish  in  the  tail  of  your  wake  as  it  blends  with  the  shore 
when  the  curved  hawser  is  hissing  to  the  drag  of  the  tugboat, 
must  surely  be  sweeter  than  a  like  period  spent  in  a  dock, 
looking  after  the  filling  up  of  a  brig's  hold,  yelling  to  bungling 
figures  on  the  decks,  shouting  to  dangling  shapes  aloft,  and  all 
for  four  pounds  fifteen  a  month. 

I  wrote  to  Mr.  Fletcher  and  accepted  the  berth,  and  asked 
him  to  tell  me  when  I  was  to  sign  articles.  I  received  no 
reply  for  a  fortnight.  Then  came  a  letter  telling  me  that  he 
had  been  away  at  Sheffield  on  a  visit  to  a  manufacturer  who 
was  sending  out  a  valuable  freight  by  the  Hebe  to  Cape  Town, 
and  in  a  postscript  which  read  like  an  afterthought  he 
added  :  "  Call  upon  the  shipping  master  on  your  arrival  on 
the  Qth,  and  then  sign  the  articles." 

The  pth  came.  I  had  been  a  long  while  at  home  this  time, 
and  found  good-by  hard  to  say.  I  hired  the  carter  that  had 
brought  me  from  the  railway  station  in  the  preceding  August, 
put  my  stowed  sea  chest  aboard  the  old  vehicle,  and  with  my 
mother's  kiss  still  moist  upon  my  cheek,  and  my  father's  grasp 
still  warm  in  my  hand,  I  turned  my  back  upon  the  old  home, 
little  anticipating  the  new  and  extraordinary  scene  of  life  that 
was  to  open  to  me. 

On  my  arrival  at  Bristol,  after  signing  the  brig's  articles, 
I  took  my  chest  on  board  the  Hebe.  I  found  the  vessel  in  full 
sea  rig,  the  hatches  on,  and  all  in  readiness  for  the  start.  She 
sat  fairly  deep  in  the  water  of  the  dock,  and  showed  like 
a  ship  comfortably  freighted.  The  only  people  in  the  vessel 
were  the  steward  and  the  carpenter.  I  noticed  the  latter  as 
I  went  through  the  gangway,  leaning  over  the  windlass  and 


MATE   OF    THE   "HEBE."  21 

smoking  a  pipe,  and  posturing  with  the  easy  air  of  a  ship- 
keeper.  He  did  not  know  who  I  was  and  made  no  sign. 
I  called  to  hear  if  there  was  anybody  in  the  forecastle  who 
would  help  me  carry  my  chest  below.  On  this  he  stepped  aft, 
putting  his  pipe  in  his  pocket,  and  made  a  civil  flourish  with 
his  hand  to  his  cloth  cap. 

"  Are  you  the  mate,  sir  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered. 

"  I'm  the  carpenter  and  acting  second  mate,"  said  he,  with 
a  grin.  Then  going  to  the  companion  he  bawled  out, 
"  George  !"  A  young  fellow  of  some  three-and-t\venty  came 
up.  His  face  was  dirty,  his  jacket  old  and  greasy,  his  canvas 
trousers  colored  here  and  there  like  the  center  of  a  drum 
where  the  sticks  hit  it.  He  had  a  cast  in  his  eye,  and  seemed 
but  a  poor  kind  of  creature  for  any  sort  of  work.  I  asked 
him  who  he  was.  He  answered  with  an  imbecile  look  : 

"  George,  the  steward,  sir." 

I  said,  "  You'll  have  to  freshen  yourself  up,  my  lad.  Those 
togs  of  yours  will  need  a  long  tow  overboard  to  satisfy  me. 
Is  the  captain  aboard  ? " 

"  No,  sir." 

"When  is  he  expected  ?  " 

"  Dunno,  sir." 

The  carpenter  waited  till  I  had  done  with  my  questions, 
then  said,  "  Here,  boy  ;  len's  a  hand  to  carry  the  chief  mate's 
chest  to  his  berth." 

I  followed  them  down  the  steps,  and  they  put  my  old  box  on 
the  deck  of  my^cabin.  In  the  bunk  lay  a  bundle  of  bedding, 
sent  aboard  tliat  morning  according  to  my  instructions  to 
a  Bristol  outfitter.  I  glanced  around  and  found  that  other 
necessaries  had  been  duly  delivered. 

"  I  see  you're  all  ready  for  hauling  out,"  said  I  to  the 
carpenter,  who  seemed  to  linger  as  though  for  a  yarn,  the 
steward  meanwhile  stepping  into  his  pantry,  which  was  imme- 
diately abreast  my  cabin. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  answered.  "  Everything's  been  done  by  the 
riggers.  Ne'er  a  man  as  sails  in  the  ship  Ml  have  a  finger  in 
the  pie,  aloft  or  alow.  'Taint  as  it  used  to  be.  If  I  were 
master  it's  my  sailors  as  should  reeve  and  bend,  aye,  and 
stow  too.  There's  nothen  like  knowing  what  you're  aboard 
of  when  the  whole  job  means  sink  or  swim " 

"  Have  they  got  a  crew  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  a  tidy  crew  as  crews  go.  1  was  up  signing  along 
with  some  of  them." 

"  What's  the  complement  ?  " 


«*  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

11  Not  counting  you  aft,  eight  men  and  me,  and  that  there 
George,"  he  answered,  with  a  nod  at  the  pantry. 

I  chatted  a  while  with  the  fellow,  rather  fancying  him.  He 
was  a  man  of  about  five-and-forty,  with  iron-gray  whiskers, 
of  a  frank,  sailorly  manner,  and  honest  looks.  The  mate  of 
such  a  brig  as  this  could  lose  nothing  of  dignity  in  yarning 
with  her  carpenter.  There  is  no  dignity  in  290  tons.  Indeed 
it  scarcely  begins  at  a  thousand.  This  carpenter  had  sailed 
with  a  man  I  well  knew  ;  he  also  named  several  large  ships  he 
had  served  in,  and  he  looked  around  the  cabin  as  though  he 
felt  that  his  present  situation  was  a  come-down. 

When  he  left  me  I  occupied  myself  in  arranging  my  berth, 
and  then  went  on  deck  for  a  meal  at  an  eating  house  just  off 
the  docks.  As  I  passed  through  the  companion  hatch  Captain 
Cadman  came  over  the  side.  On  seeing  me  he  called  out, 
"  Ho,  there  you  are  !  " 

I  saluted  him  with  a  quarter-deck  flourish,  of  which,  how- 
ever, he  took  no  notice,  being  no  doubt  ignorant  of  all  such 
etiquette.  His  wide,  flapping  soft  hat  seemed  to  contract  his 
face,  and  I  found  it  more  snout-like  than  I  had  before  thought 
it.  He  was  buttoned  up  in  a  rusty  monkey  jacket,  and  his 
long  legs  were  outlined  like  a  skeleton's  through  his  thin, 
flapping  cloth  breeches. 

"  All  ready  for  sea,  sir  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  I. 

"  So  are  we,"  he  exclaimed,  casting  his  little  eyes  aloft,  then 
running  them  over  the  decks.  "  Our  trim's  good.  We  sit 
well,  I  think.  We  haul  out  to-morrow  at  nine.  Nine's  the 
hour,  sir.  You'll  sleep  aboard." 

I  answered  with  the  customary  "  Aye,  aye,  sir." 

"  I'm  a-dining  this  afternoon  with  Mr.  Fletcher.  We  may 
come  aboard  to-night." 

He  went  to  the  skylight,  called  to  George  to  tell  him  if  Mr. 
Fletcher's  cabin  was  ready,  then  giving  him  certain  instruc- 
tions which  I  did  not  catch,  he  walked  about  the  deck,  looking 
here  and  there,  getting  on  to  the  rail  on  either  side  to  peer 
over,  and  staring  aloft.  I  watched  him  with  a  certain  degree 
of  interest.  I  never  remember  a  person  more  singular  in  his 
carriage,  manners,  and  looks.  His  walk  was  a  wild,  flighty 
stride  ;  he  seemed  to  have  no  control  over  his  great,  square- 
toed  feet,  and  he  had  an  odd  way  of  gazing  askant  at  a  thing. 
He'd  hold  his  head  straight,  and  you'd  think  he  was  looking 
in  front  of  him,  till  on  glancing  at  him  you'd  find  his  eyes  in 
the  corner  of  their  sockets,  fastened  upon  you.  He  attentively 
viewed  the  brig  as  though  particularly  to  observe  her  trim  ; 


MATE   OF    THE   "HEBE."  23 

then,  after  addressing  a  few  observations  to  me  about  Captain 
Bradford,  the  promise  of  the  morrow's  weather,  the  sailors  who 
had  signed  for  the  vessel,  and  so  on,  he  stepped  on  to  the 
wharf  and  went  away.  I  waited  until  he  had  disappeared, 
walked  to  an  eating  house,  and  dined. 

I  hung  about  the  brig  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  smoking  and 
sometimes  yarning  with  the  carpenter,  who  said  he  belonged 
to  London  and  had  no  friends  in  Bristol,  and  did  not  care  to 
go  ashore.  Ships  of  many  kinds  lay  round  about  us,  and  the 
scene  in  its  way  was  hearty  and  inspiriting,  with  the  spires  of 
masts,  the  lacework  of  rigging,  the  hovering  of  the  bunting  of 
divers  nations  at  peak  or  royal  masthead,  and  the  song  of  the 
capstan  and  the  cry  of  command  mingled  with  the  melodies  of 
church  bells  and  the  noises  of  the  city  spreading  beyond  in 
all  directions.  But  it  was  a  sharp,  cold  day,  spite  of  a  high 
sky  of  marble  and  a  sunset  of  spacious  splendor  ;  after  I  had 
made  a  good  supper  or  tea  ashore  I  was  glad  of  the  refuge 
the  brig's  cabin  provided.  George  lighted  the  lamp;  I  smoked 
a  pipe,  mixed  myself  a  glass  out  of  a  bottle  of  spirits  I  had 
brought  with  me,  and  killed  an  hour  or  two  by  reading  in  some 
old  thumb-marked  volume  of  sea  tales  which  I  found  on  a 
swing  tray  under  the  skylight. 

I  contrasted  this  gloomy  cabin  with  the  home  I  had  left — 
the  cheerful  parlor  lighted  by  the  soft  flame  of  oil,  the  pic- 
tures, the  communion  plate  glittering  on  the  sideboard,  the 
figures  of  my  father  and  mother,  the  one  knitting,  the  other 
reading — and  I  did  not  feel  joyous. 

I  thought  of  the  horrible  yarn  old  Bradford  had  spun  us  of 
the  people  whose  throats  had  been  cut  and  of  the  heap  of 
dead  bodies  in  the  hold.  The  gloom  upon  my  spirits  was  in 
the  atmosphere  ;  imagination  beheld  the  theater  exactly  as  it 
had  been,  and  the  bloody  business  was  re-enacted  with  such 
sharpness  of  realization  as  once  caused  me  to  glance  around  a 
bit  nervously,  and  once  even  to  go  on  deck  to  fetch  a  cold 
breath  and  get  some  briskness  of  mood  out  of  the  life  that 
was  in  sight. 

But  there  was  little  to  be  seen  ;  the  water  in  the  dock 
floated  like  black  oil,  with  a  gleam  coming  you  knew  not 
whence  in  the  heart  of  it  ;  the  moon  was  dark,  the  stars  pale 
and  few,  the  ships  lay  in  blocks  of  shadow  spotted  here  and 
there  with  yellow  light,  and  the  crowd  of  masts  swarmed  into 
the  obscurity  till  they  looked  like  the  gathering  of  a  thunder- 
cloud with  ink-like  lines  of  rain  falling.  The  silence  was  the 
silence  of  the  dock  when  Jack  in  his  multitude  is  ashore  ; 
when  one  solitary  figure  leaning  over  a  taffrail  talks  to  another 


24  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

solitary  figure  leaning  over  a  bow  ;  when  a  distant  shout  star- 
tles, and  the  splash  of  a  bucket  makes  you  hearken  for  the 
alarm  of  a  drowning  man  ;  when  there  is  a  hum  of  drunken 
voices  beside  the  shadowy  arm  of  a  crane,  and  a  dim  chorus- 
ing from  a  distant  public  house. 

Mr.  Fletcher  and  Captain  Cadman  came  on  board  at  ten. 
I  sat  in  the  cabin  scarcely  knowing  whether  to  expect  them  or 
not.  Fletcher  stumbled  in  coming  down  the  companion  steps, 
and  put  on  a  stately  air  when  he  approached  me.  His  eyes 
were  weak,  and  he  was  at  some  trouble  to  keep  his  face  steady. 
He  was  slightly  intoxicated.  Cadman,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
perfectly  sober.  Fletcher  shook  me  by  the  hand,  and  said  he 
hoped  I  would  fulfill  the  expectations  he  had  formed  of  me  as 
the  son  of  a  clergyman. 

"  You  shall  have  of  my  best,  sir — I  can  say  no  more,"  I 
answered. 

"  I  expect  no  more,"  he  exclaimed,  with  a  rather  tipsy 
flourish  of  his  hand.  "  He  giveth  all  who  giveth  of  his  best. 
Is  the  steward  awake  ? " 

I  called  to  George,  who  came  out  of  his  pantry  rubbing  his 
eyes. 

"  Is  there  any  milk  on  board  ? "  said  Mr.  Fletcher. 

"  No,  sir,"  answered  George. 

"  D'ye  want  a  drink  of  milk,  sir?"  said  Captain  Cadman. 
"Jump  ashore  with  a  jug,  George " 

"  No,  I'll  drink  no  milk,"  said  Mr.  Fletcher,  sitting  down 
suddenly  ;  "  milk  lies  cold  upon  the  stomach  throughout  a  long 
night.  I  mean  cow's  milk.  I'd  drink  goat's  milk  if  I  could 
get  it." 

Cadman  slopped  out  one  of  his  greasy  laughs.  "  I  knew  a 
woman,"  said  he,  "  who  brought  up  her  young  un  on  goat's 
milk,  and  bloomed  if  the  kid  wouldn't  turn  to  arterward  and 
butt  at  his  mother  as  if  he  was  a  goat.  He  wanted  nothen  but 
horns.  He  had  all  the  feelings  and  sperrits  of  a  Billy." 

"  What's  there  to  drink  in  this  brig  ? "  said  Fletcher,  looking 
at  me  somewhat  gloomily. 

In  silence  Cadman  sped  with  spasmodic  gestures  and  dart- 
ing legs  to  his  cabin,  and  swiftly  returned  with  a  black  bottle. 
George  then  put  cold  water  and  glasses  upon  the  table.  I 
was  for  going  to  my  berth,  guessing  I  was  no  longer  wanted. 
Fletcher,  however,  first  asking  Cadman  what  the  bottle  con- 
tained, requested  me  to  sit  and  drink  prosperity  to  the  Hebe. 
A  mate  must  be  always  willing  to  oblige  aship  owner.  I  mixed 
a  glass  of  weak  gin  and  water,  and  the  three  of  us  lifted  our 
tumblers  after  Fletcher  had  said,  "  Here's  prosperity  to  the 


MATE   OF    THE    "HEBE."  25 

voyage.  May  it  find  us  grateful  always  for  every  mercy. 
And  here's  to  our  safe  return  to  the  country  of  our  birth." 

"  I  was  sorry  to  see  Mrs.  Fletcher  take  on  so,"  said  Captain 
Cadman,  pulling  out  a  paper  bag  of  cigars,  one  of  which  he 
lighted  (it  instantly  raised  so  vile  a  smell  of  bad  tobacco  that 
it  was  like  sitting  in  a  ship's  hold  which  you  smoke  out  for 
rats  and  other  vermin).  "  But  she'll  come  round.  Somehow 
it's  never  long  afore  the  empty  chair  gets  to  look  as  homely 
as  when  it's  filled.  I  found  that  out  arter  my  wife  died'. 
When  I  came  home  and  found  her  armchair  empty  the  sight 
of  it  was  enough  to  drive  me  into  drinking.  Now  its  empti- 
ness is  as  formiliaras  it  would  be  if  it  were  t'other  ways  about, 
that's  to  say,  if  I  hadn't  sold  it." 

"  Mrs.  Fletcher  is  a  bad  sailor,"  said  Fletcher,  with  his  eyes 
half  closed.  "  She'll  miss  me.  We'll  miss  each  other.  She'll 
miss  me  from  my  accustomed  seat  at  church,  and  at  our  plain, 
but,  I  think,  not  inhospitable  table." 

"Fur  from  that,  sir,"  said  Cadman,  draining  his  glass. 

"  My  daughters  '11  miss  me,"  continued  Fletcher.  "  But 
these  separations  are  useful.  They  teach  us  to  think.  They 
withdraw  us  from  that  fool's  paradise  in  which  too  many  of 
us  are  apt  to  dwell."  Here  he  lifted  his  eyelids  and  rested 
his  dim  eyes  upon  my  face.  "  The  great  and  final  change 
when  we  enter  eternity  and  never  return  is  always  at  hand. 
Our  small  earthly  comings  and  goings  prepare  us  for  the  last 
dread  leave-taking." 

"  I've  always  said,"  exclaimed  Captain  Cadman,  "  that  there's 
ne'er  a  man  as  can  dress  up  his  thoughts  in  prettier  colors  than 
Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol." 

"  With  your  leave,  gentlemen,"  said  I,  "  I'll  turn  in.  Work 
starts  early  in  the  morning,  and  there's  a  long  day  before  us." 

"  Good-night,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Fletcher,  extending  his  hand 
with  the  abruptness  of  drink.  As  I  rose  he  said,  "I  hope  you 
left  your  father  in  a  fairly  good  state  of  health  ? " 

"  He  is  very  well,  sir,  I  thank  you." 

"  There's  no  class  of  society,"  I  heard  him  say  to  Captain 
Cadman  as  I  went  to  my  berth,  '"for  which  I  have  a  greater 
regard  than  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England." 

I  shut  my  door,  but  through  the  bulkhead  heard  him  ram- 
bling on  in  this  speech  about  the  clergy. 

I  got  into  my  bunk  and  lay  thinking.  This  first  day  of  my 
entering  my  duties  did  not  much  seem  like  going  to  sea  accord- 
ing to  one's  old  notions  of  the  life,  whether  in  dock  or  out  of 
soundings.  I  seemed  to  be  treated  more  as  passenger  than 
mate  ;  Cadman  had  said  nothing  to  me  about  the  cargo,  stores, 


26  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

and  so  on,  had  barely  referred,  indeed,  to  the  brig  when  we  met 
in  the  afternoon  ;  here  too  was  the  owner,  Fletcher,  shaking 
hands  and  making  much  of  me — but,  to  be  sure,  he  was  rather 
tipsy.  I  was  puzzled,  but  not  uneasy.  I  knew  my  work,  and 
though  Cadman  might  be  a  smarter  seaman  than  I  in  han- 
dling such  a  little  ship  as  this  brig,  I  had  small  doubt  of  prov- 
ing out  and  away  superior  as  a  navigator  to  so  illiterate  a 
man.  They  sat  talking  in  low  voices  long  after  I  had  turned 
in.  I  heard  a  church  clock  strike  eleven  and  then  the  quar- 
ter, and  they  talked  still. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   "  HEBE  "   SAILS. 

THE  crew  were  aboard  next  morning  by  eight.  They 
arrived  perfectly  sober,  handed  down  their  bags  and  chests, 
and  disappeared  through  the  scuttle.  I  was  satisfied  with 
their  looks.  They  showed  as  a  healthy,  able-bodied  company 
of  men,  and  I  liked  their  quiet,  orderly  manner  of  coming 
aboard. 

Shortly  after  nine  we  had  warped  out  of  the  dock  ;  a  tug 
then  got  hold  of  us,  and  with  a  pilot  in  charge  the  little, 
square-sterned,  ungainly  bulk  of  brig  hissed  her  thick  cut- 
water through  the  froth  of  the  wake  churned  up  by  the  pad- 
dles ahead.  My  hands  were  now  full ;  I  had  fifty  things  to 
look  after,  and  found  no  leisure  to  admire  the  quiet  beauty  of 
the  scene  of  river  through  which  we  were  towed.  It  was  a 
hard,  bright  morning,  with  a  keen  and  nipping  breeze  out  of 
the  northeast.  Nothing  happened  worth  noticing  until  the 
tug  cast  us  adrift  and  the  pilot  left  us.  Mr.  Fletcher,  in  a 
great  overcoat  and  a  fur  cap,  stumped  the  quarter-deck,  casting 
complacent,  patronizing  looks  round  upon  the  sea.  Cadman, 
who  had  now  charge  of  the  brig,  was  bawling  out  orders  to 
make  sail.  I  was  forward  on  the  forecastle,  seeing  to  the 
ground  tackle,  along  with  the  carpenter  and  one  or  two  men. 
The  wind,  though  a  breeze,  blew  light,  being  almost  aft ;  the 
vessel  was  under  topsails  and  fore  course,  and  they  were  now 
setting  topgallant  sails  and  loosing  the  royals. 

I  paused  for  a  moment  or  two  in  what  I  was  about,  and 
could  not  but  smile  at  the  picture  of  the  little  brig.  She 
looked  from  the  head  the  oddest,  most  old-fashioned, 
unshapely  structure  that  ever  blew  along  over  salt  water. 
Her  canvas  fitted  her  ill  ;  the  clews  of  her  topgallant  sails,  as 


THE   "HEBE"    SAILS.  27 

the  hoisting  yard  tautened  the  leech,  sheeted  wide  of  the 
yardarms,  and  I  could  swear  that  the  fore  topsail  had  never 
been  cut  for  the  little  ship.  The  standing  jib  and  the  top- 
gallant staysail  had  a  meager  look,  as  though  the  cloths  had 
been  stitched  for  a  vessel  wantinga  third  of  the  Hebe's  tonnage. 
Some  of  the  canvas  was  dark  with  time,  if  not  wear,  and  here 
and  there  I  twigged  a  patch.  I  nearly  burst  into  a  laugh. 
The  effect  was  as  that  of  a  tall  boy  in  old  clothes  much  too 
tight  and  short.  A  very  Smike  of  a  brig,  thought  I,  though 
perhaps  this  image  of  ribs  and  shanks  was  impaired  by  the 
corpulence  of  the  hull  which  lifted  its  rags  to  the  wind. 

The  carpenter  looked  at  the  brig  out  of  the  corners  of  his 
eyes,  and  the  Jacks  who  were  working  under  my  direction 
frequently  turned  their  heads  to  fling  a  glance  aloft,  as  though 
fascinated  by  the  monstrous  exhibition  of  sailcloth.  A  light 
swell,  with  something,  however,  of  the  weight  of  the  Bristol 
Channel  in  its  heave,  was  rolling  through  the  pale  blue  water 
scarcely  more  than  wrinkled  by  the  wind,  and  the  brig  bowed 
oddly  upon  it  in  a  sort  of  squelching  way,  sousing  her  bows, 
and  recovering  sluggishly.  I  felt  this  queer  behavior  under 
foot,  and  could  not  reconcile  it  with  the  excellence  of  her 
trim  while  she  had  floated  down  the  river  or  sat  on  the  still 
water  of  the  dock. 

"  Blast  me,"  says  one  of  the  sailors  standing  upon  the  heel 
of  the  cathead,  after  first  spitting  a  thimbleful  of  yellow  froth 
over  the  side,  "  if  I  don't  think  this  blooming  old  hooker's 
half  full  of  water." 

"If  she's  going  to  cut  these  watter-logged  capers  here,"  ex- 
claimed another  sailor,  "  what's  to  be  her  tantrums  in  anything 
of  a  sea  ? " 

"  Silence  there,"  said  I. 

But  now  the  carpenter,  coming  to  my  side  in  a  single  stride, 
whispered  hoarsely  in  my  ear,  "  Mr.  Morgan  " — I  had  given 
him  my  name — "  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  he,  "  I  believe  the  men 
are  right.  This  here  movement  means  three  or  four  foot  of 
water  in  the  hold." 

Hearing  this,I  gave  some  moments  of  earnest  heed  to  the  mat- 
ter, and  was  satisfied  by  the  feel  of  the  heave  that  it  was  as  the 
carpenter  had  said.  The  movement  made  you  think  of  a  quantity 
of  loose  quicksilver  in  the  brig's  bottom,  which,  running  for- 
ward, held  the  bow  sullenly  soused  till  the  obstinate  lift  of  the 
swell  sluggishly  rose  her  head,  when  her  hinder  part  sank  in  a 
sousing  manner  likewise,  and  then  the  recovery  would  be  sul- 
len and  slow,  quite,  in  short,  in  the  water-logged  way. 

I  wondered  that  Cadman  did  not  remark  the  sickly  motions 


28  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

of  the  brig.  He  was  still  full  of  business,  leaving  the  carpen- 
ter and  me  to  get  on  with  our  work  on  the  forecastle.  It  was 
not  for  me  to  order  the  carpenter  to  sound  the  well  while  the 
captain  was  on  deck,  but  it  was  for  me  beyond  question  to  go 
aft  and  report  my  suspicions  that  the  Hebe  was  sinking  under 
our  feet.  I  went  along  the  deck  and  stepped  up  to  Cadman. 
Mr.  Fletcher,  who  was  pacing  the  planks  near  at  hand,  stopped 
to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  His  whiskers  looked  uncommonly 
bushy  and  as  strong  as  hedges. 

"  Shall  the  carpenter  sound  the  well,  sir  ?  He  thinks  there's 
three  or  four  feet  of  water  in  the  hold." 

"And  so  there  is,"  said  Cadman  coolly. 

Fletcher  still  lingered,  and  seemed  to  view  with  approval 
a  handsome  three-masted  schooner  that  was  floating  past  us 
at  a  distance  of  a  mile,  brightening  the  water  under  her  with 
the  glistening  shadow  of  her  snow-white  cloths.  I  stared  at 
Cadman  in  silence. 

"  Yes,  there's  two  or  three  feet  of  water  in  the  hold,"  said 
the  captain.  "  You  can  tell  the  men  it  was  run  in  for  sweeten- 
ing and  preserving  purposes.  Some  fathoms  of  old  skin  was 
took  out  when  the  brig  was  overhauled,  and  the  shipwright  as 
did  the  repairs  recommended  that  we  should  season  the  new 
stuff  by  letting  a  quantity  of  water  lie  in  the  vessel's  bottom. 
We  know  what  we're  about.  It's  all  right.  Tell  the  crew  if 
there's  anything  tighter  afloat  than  the  Hebe,  middle-aged  as 
she  be,  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  shall  hand  'em  over  my  earn- 
ings for  the  voyage." 

I  looked  at  Fletcher,  who  smiled  and  resumed  his  walk. 

"  We'll  pump  her  out  arter  dinner,"  continued  Cadman. 
"There's  no  call  to  sound  the  well.  There's  nothen  draining 
in.  My  life's  as  good  as  yourn  or  any  other  man's  aboard  this 
vessel.  So  if  the  crew  should  say  anything  make  their  minds 
easy,  will  'ee  ?" 

I  went  forward  again  greatly  puzzled,  with  a  feeling  of  dis- 
trust slowly  forming  and  hardening  in  me.  The  carpenter, 
while  I  was  gone  aft,  had  stood  looking  our  way  as  though 
expecting  a  summons  to  drop  the  rod  into  the  well. 

"  The  captain,"  said  I,  "tells  me  it's  all  right.  He  knows 
that  there  are  three  or  four  feet  of  water  in  the  hold.  The 
water  was  run  in  for  seasoning  purposes." 

"  For  what  purposes  ? "  echoed  the  carpenter. 

"For  seasoning  the  new  skin." 

He  viewed  me  without  speech,  then  very  moodily  shook  his 
head. 

"  That  warn't  do,"  said  he.      "  Water  for  seasoning  !  in  a 


THE   "HEBE"    SAILS.  29 

stowed  hold  too  with  plenty  of  muck,  I  dessay,  in  the  ballast 
to  wash  up,  not  to  speak  of  the  dunnage  floating  on  top  of 
the  cargo  !  No,  no.  There's  no  blooming  marines  at  this 
end  of  the  ship  to  swallow  the  likes  of  such  stuff  as  that  /" 

"  Look  here  !  "  cried  one  of  the  seamen,  springing  off  the 
rail — a  wiry,  hairy,  square-shouldered  man,  with  the  looks  of  a 
collie  dog  about  the  face,  and  a  big  clasp  knife  dangling  at  a 
lanyard  round  his  neck.  "Not  another  stroke  of  work  till  I 
larn  what  the  water's  a-doing  in  the  hold,  and  if  more's  com- 
ing in.  Have  I  shipped  as  a  rat  ?  Strike  me  silly  then  ! " 

By  this  time  the  men  were  down  from  aloft.  Sail  had  been 
made  and  the  crew  were  clearing  up  the  decks.  It  was  a  quiet 
day,  and  the  man's  loud  speech  was  overheard.  He  had  made 
it  particularly  significant  too  by  his  gesture. 

"  What's  up,  Bill  ? "  called  a  sailor  from  abreast  of  the 
galley. 

"  What's  the  shindy  now  ?  "  sung  out  another. 

"  Here's  this  old  hooker  half  full  of  water,  and  Bristol 
scarcely  out  of  sight,"  cried  out  Bill,  intending  his  words  for 
Cadman. 

When  this  was  said  every  man  dropped  the  job  he  was 
upon,  and  came  running  on  to  the  forecastle,  where  in  a  trice  I 
found  myself  in  the  center  of  all  hands  saving  the  fellow  at 
the  helm. 

"  What's  this  about  the  brig  half  full  of  water  ?  "  said  a  man, 
shoving  three  or  four  fellows  aside  to  thrust  close  to  me. 

I  repeated  in  a  clear  voice  what  the  captain  had  said. 

"  Four  foot  of  water  !  "  shouted  a  man,  with  a  great  oath. 
"  Aint  it  time  to  see  what  boats  the  old  basket  carries  ? " 

"  Fired,"  cried  another,  "  if  she  don't  feel  to  be  a-settling 
every  time  she  lurches  forrard  !  Feel  her,  bullies." 

"  Chips,  sound  the  well  !  "  shouted  a  third  man.  "  Aint 
your  life  of  no  account  that  you  stand  there  a-blinkin'  and  a- 
chewing  like  any  blooming  old  cow  ?  " 

"  Forecastle  !  "  cried  Cadman,  with  the  note  of  a  shriek  in 
his  voice,  "  what's  the  crew  a-doing  lumped  up  together 
there  ? " 

I  went  aft  and  was  followed  by  all  the  men.  The  language 
in  my  wake  was  far  from  choice.  Some  swore  they  felt  the 
brig  settling;  others  that  they'd  give  the  captain  two  minutes 
to  explain,  then  head  the  old  fagot  for  Bristol  docks. 
Fletcher  stood  large,  whiskered,  stout  in  his  immense  coat, 
near  the  wheel,  at  a  safe  distance,  but  within  easy  earshot. 

"  Didn't  I  tell  'ee  what  to  explain  to  the  men  about  the 
water  in  the  hold  ? "  said  Cadman,  setting  his  comoass-like 


30  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

legs  apart  and  averting  his  snout-suggesting  face  to  survey 
me  and  the  men  out  of  the  corners  of  his  eyes. 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  and  your  explanation  has  been  given  'em." 

"  But  it  won't  smoke  !  "  exclaimed  the  wiry,  hairy  seaman 
with  the  clasp  knife  round  his  neck.  "  D'ye  think  us  men 
first  voyagers  that  yer  spin  these  blushen  yarns  o'  salting 
the  skin  of  the  old  wagon  ?  If  yer  don't  tarn  to  and  give 
orders  out  of  hand  to  man  the  pumps  that  we  may  see  what 
water  the  brig's  making,  it's  up  helium  for  Bristol  City  afore 
five  bells,  by  God  ! " 

This  was  defiance  with  a  vengeance  !  It  wanted  but  ten 
minutes  of  the  time  threatened,  but  you  knew  by  their  scowls 
and  savage  glances  and  curse-laden  growls  that  the  crew 
were  desperately  in  earnest  and  heartily  frightened  also.  We 
were  no  great  ship  with  the  taut  discipline  of  a  Liverpool  or  a 
Blackwall  liner  fore  and  aft,  only  a  contemptible  little  brig 
whose  skipper  was  as  mean  in  origin  and  "  learning  "  as  George 
who  waited  on  him  in  the  cabin,  mean  as  the  meanest  man 
aboard,  who,  if  he  could  read  and  count  up  figures,  would  be 
reckoned  as  well  educated  as  the  captain. 

Well  do  I  recollect  that  strange  picture:  the  crowd  of  angry, 
frightened  men  abreast  of  the  main  rigging  ;  the  spider-legged 
skipper  looking  at  them  out  of  the  corners  of  his  eyes  ;  Fletcher, 
somewhat  pale,  near  the  wheel  listening.  The  breeze  was 
slackening,  the  dingy  old  fore  course  and  topsails  swung  in, 
and  then  swung  out,  with  every  sputtering,  sousing  dip  of  the 
round  bows,  and  with  every  dead  fall  of  the  square  stern,  the 
water  flying  white  and  hissing  to  each  slopping  chop  of  the 
old-fashioned  counter,  where  the  words  '•'•Hebe — Bristol  "  were 
to  be  read  in  long,  white,  staring  letters.  The  sun  was  in  the 
west ;  in  the  wet,  still  pale,  but  slowly  reddening  light  the 
land  showed  like  a  length  of  formless  heaped-up  thunder 
vapor  ;  it  was  of  the  very  color  of  the  storm,  and  you  might 
have  watched  for  fire  to  spit ;  against  it  the  white  sails  of  a 
large  distant  bark  shone  like  the  pinions  of  a  cloud  of  gulls 
startled  and  suddenly  soaring. 

"  I  tell  you,"  abruptly  roared  Cadman  in  a  hurricane  note, 
out  of  which  all  the  natural  greasiness  was  sent  flying  by 
temper,  "that  as  much  money's  been  put  into  this  brig  for 
repairs  as  'ud  build  a  new  un.  There  stands  her  owner,"  he 
yelled,  pointing  aft  with  an  arm  long,  stiff,  and  curved,  like 
a  village  pump  handle.  "  He's  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol. 
Who  don't  know  him  ?  Who,  knowing  him,  don't  respect  him  ? 
Has  he  left  his  wife  and  charmin'  family  for  the  good  of  his 
health  only  to  be  drownded  in  the  brig  whose  repairs  have  cost 


THE   "HEBE"    SAILS.  3* 

him  a  fortune  ?  Why,  you  ballyraggers,  there's  nothen  tighter 
afloat  than  the  Hebe.  If  Chips  there,"  he  said,  bringing  his 
eyes,  always  in  the  corners  of  their  sockets,  to  bear  upon  the 
carpenter,  "  don't  know  that  water  swells  and  seasons  and  pre- 
sarves  some  kinds  of  wood,  and  oftentimes  them  that's  mostly 
used  in  lining  ships,  why,  then  all  I've  got  to  say  is  that, 
though  he  may  consider  hisself  a  man,  he's  still  got  his  trade 
to  larn." 

The  carpenter  began  to  speak.  % 

"  No  words  !  "  bawled  Cadman.  "  Get  your  rod,  and  mind 
ye  don't  spare  the  chalk.  Drop  it,  and  then  all  hands  pump, 
and  if  more  water  comes  in  the  brig's  yourn,"  he  cried,  ad- 
dressing the  men,  "  and  me  and  Mr.  Fletcher  goes  ashore  in 
the  jolly-boat." 

With  that  he  walked  aft  and  stood  beside  Mr.  Fletcher  with 
his  arms  folded,  his  head  bowed,  and  his  soft  hat  drawn  upon 
his  nose. 

The  carpenter  fetched  the  rod  and  carefully  prepared  it  for 
sounding,  while  the  seamen  drew  one  of  the  pumps  for  its 
reception,  for  the  Hebe  was  constructed  on  antique  theories  ; 
you  looked  in  vain  about  her  for  anything  modern  and  con- 
venient. The  sailors,  breathing  hard,  and  flinging  angry  sen- 
tences and  threats  against  the  captain  and  ship  one  to  another, 
squeezed  round  the  pump  while  the  carpenter  sounded.  A 
trifle  over  four  feet  of  water  was  found  in  the  hold.  I  reported 
this  in  a  shout  to  the  captain. 

"Pump!"  he  roared  from  where  he  stood  alongside  of 
Fletcher  near  the  wheel.  "Pump  till  the  brig's  all  keel! 
Pump  till  the  butts  start  !  Pump  and  bust  !  and  I'll  tally 
the  cargo  foryer  as  its  washes  through  the  scuppers." 

He  continued  to  shout  out  language  to  this  effect,  all  in  a 
high,  screeching,  sarcastic  note,  till  some  of  the  men  could 
hardly  work  the  brakes  for  laughing.  But  they  were  the 
younger  ones  ;  the  older  hands  toiled  grimly.  The  pump 
clanked  like  the  click  of  some  huge  clock,  and  streams  of 
muddy  water  gushed  over  the  decks,  and  fizzed  through  the 
scupper  holes  as  though  we  had  veritably  sprung  a  frightful 
leak  and  were  pumping  in  a  last  extremity. 

After  a  bit  the  men  ceased  their  labor  ;  the  carpenter  again 
sounded  ;  there  was  now  a  sensible  diminution,  rapid  enough  to 
convince  me,  and  most  of  the  men  indeed,  that  the  captain  had 
spoken  the  truth,  at  all  events  that  the  brig  was  tight. 

"  Pump  !  "  yelled  Cadman. 

The  brakes  clanked  again,  and  the  water,  now  as  muddy  and 
thick  as  pease  soup,  bubbled  and  washed  from  side  to  side 


32  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

with  the  heave  of  the  deck,  and  hissed  overboard.  I  saw 
Fletcher  step  to  the  side  and  look  over,  not  at  the  water,  but 
at  the  brig  ;  and  while  he  leaned,  stretching  his  neck,  his  pear- 
shaped  nose  drooping  past  one  hedge  of  whisker,  the  suspi- 
cion came  into  my  head  that  all  these  tons  of  water  had  in  some 
fashion  been  secretly  let  run  into  the  brig  to  sink  her  a  stroke 
or  two  to  the  eye,  that  it  might  be  thought  she  had  hauhd  out 
of  dock  with  a  good  load.  I  can't  say  why  I  should  have 
imagined  this,  nor  was  it  in  any  way  a  purposeful  suspicion, 
for  it  suggested  nothing  more  than  the  desire  of  the  owner  to 
sail  looking  deep. 

I  stood  on  the  main  deck  watching  the  men,  ready  to  give 
them  a  hand  if  the  need  arose  ;  the  big  shaft  of  the  mainmast 
hid  me  from  the  captain.  The  carpenter  was  near  me  ;  his 
words,  audible  to  me,  were  not  to  be  heard  by  the  sailors 
owing  to  the  noise  of  the  pumps. 

"  I  don't  want  him,"  said  he,  meaning  by  him  the  captain, 
"  to  tell  me  that  they  run  water  into  vessels  for  '  to  take  up,' 
as  the  term  is,  but  it's  no  yarn  to  swaller  when  it's  told  of  a 
full  hold.  When  was  the  water  let  in  ?  Arter  the  stevedore 
had  done  with  the  brig  ?  Bet  your  legs,  Mr.  Morgan  !  for 
what  man  in  his  senses  'ud  stow  a  hold  with  four  feet  of  water 
in  it  ? " 

"  There's  some  reason  in  it  that's  above  my  tricks  of  sea- 
manship," I  answered  cautiously,  for  the  spirit  of  the  disci- 
pline of  the  sea  ever  worked  strongly  in  me  ;  I  did  not  choose 
as  mate  to  talk  ill  of  my  captain  with  his  carpenter.  "  The 
skipper's  an  old  hand,  and  knows  what  he's  about,  no  doubt." 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  slow,  acid,  wrinkling  smile,  which 
was  just  as  good  as  saying  :  "  Don't  argue  against  your  con- 
victions, but  I  understand  what's  in  your  mind."  Here  the 
sailors  called  upon  him  to  sound  the  well  again,  and  now  the 
decrease  was  so  marked  as  to  satisfy  us  that  the  brig  was  a 
stanch  keel.  The  men,  however,  spell  after  spell,  held  on 
till  the  pumps  sucked  ;  they  then  waited  a  bit,  afterward  made 
the  carpenter  get  a  last  cast,  then  rolled  forward  to  supper,  a 
grumbling,  sweating,  wearied  body  of  men,  bidding  me  go  aft 
and  tell  the  captain  they  were  satisfied,  though  before  they 
signed  articles  along  with  him  again  "  he'd  have  first  of  all  to 
lift  his  hatches  and  sound  his  own  bloomin'  well." 


A   DIFFICULTY.  33 

CHAPTER    VI. 

A    DIFFICULTY. 

AFTER  this  queer  matter  of  the  water  in  the  hold  nothing 
happened  that  recollection  can  now  catch  hold  of,  that  is,  for 
a  few  days  ;  it  was  little  more  than  weather  and  wind  with 
us,  reefed  topsails  and  strong  bow  seas,  the  water  by  day  a 
darkling,  frothing  green,  rolling  out  of  a  thick  and  sallow  sky, 
which  over  our  mastheads  swept  with  the  swiftness  of  smoke 
in  flying  scud,  the  breaks  between  sinister  with  stormy  light  ; 
while  by  night  all  was  howling  and  whistling  darkness,  with 
the  black  body  of  the  tub  of  a  brig  leaping  upon  the  ghastly 
pale  froth  which  her  capers  sent  roaring  from  either  side. 

Yet  the  little  craft  held  her  own  well  with  the  seas  :  she 
jumped  the  tall  surge  with  a  dry  forecastle,  and  though  she 
pitched  most  abominably,  she'd  dish  at  a  time  little  more  than 
a  bucketful  of  yellow  suds  ;  the  water  flew  in  living  sheets 
from  the  ponderous  hurl  of  her  round  bow,  with  such  a 
screeching  and  fiddling  and  piping  and  roaring  aloft  !  Often 
I'd  laugh  outright  at  that  multitudinous  noise,  that  orchestral 
clamor  of  sweeping  hemp  and  shearing  spars,  so  human  it  was, 
so  astounding  in  its  suggestions  of  land-going  rowdyism — yells 
and  hair  pulling  in  the  blind  alley,  the  shrieks  and  groans  of 
a  drunken  riot,  now  swelling  into  the  roars  of  an  enraged  mob, 
now  sinking  into  the  moaning  of  the  trampled  and  the  dying. 

This  weather  fell  upon  us  when  we  were  off  the  Cornish 
coast,  and  lasted  us  down  to  about  45°  of  north  latitude.  We 
speedily  lost  sight  of  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol,  who  lay  sick  unto 
death  in  the  great  cabin  he  had  fitted  up  for  himself,  right  aft 
under  the  wheel,  where,  of  course,  the  motions  of  the  vessel 
were  to  be  felt  most  horribly  ;  where,  too,  were  to  be  heard  in 
perfection  the  sounds  of  the  helm,  the  shock  of  the  rudder, 
the  grinding  of  the  wheel  tackles,  the  thunderous  squash  of 
the  square  counter  smiting  the  sea. 

I  took  notice  in  this  time  of  two  or  three  matters  which 
impressed  me  even  in  those  early  days,  though,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  four  foot  odd  of  water  in  the  hold,  my  distrust  could 
make  no  use  of  them.  First,  the  cabin  equipment  was  penu- 
riously  plain  ;  the  table  cloths  were  as  coarse,  dark,  and  old 
as  the  brig's  canvas  ;  the  black-handled  knives  and  forks  were 
of  the  cheapest  and  commonest ;  the  crockery  was  composed 
of  odd  pieces  of  the  poorest  sort  of  ware.  The  cabin  fare  was 
the  worst  I  had  ever  sat  down  to  at  sea  ;  it  was  true  that  the 


34  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

beef  and  pork  which  we  ate,  which  the  sailors  forward  also 
ate,  was  up  to  the  average  of  such  offal  ;  what  I  mean  is  that 
in  the  cabin  we  scarcely  fed  better  than  in  the  forecastle. 
Such  things  as  were  not  served  out  to  the  sailors  were  of  the 
worst  quality,  such  as  the  pickles,  the  tinned  meat,  the  white 
biscuit,  and  the  like.  We  carried  no  live  stock  of  any  sort, 
not  so  much  as  a  lonely  hen,  to  furnish  us  with  a  one-meal 
relish.  It  was  certain  this  brig  had  put  to  sea  as  shabbily 
victualed  as  Cadman  or  his  owner  durst  contrive,  only  that, 
the  harness  cask  being  up  to  the  average,  and  the  ship's  bread 
with  nothing  discoverable  in  the  way  of  worms  as  yet,  no 
forecastle  growls  reached  the  cabin. 

It  happened  soon  after  the  weather  had  improved,  when  the 
brig  was  rolling  along  over  a  swelling  hollow  ocean,  with  a 
single  reef  in  her  main  topsail  and  the  topgallant  sail  set  above 
it,,  the  sky  brightening  out  ahead  to  the  southward,  where  the 
seas  were  running  with  frequent  quick  gleams  of  light,  though 
northward  the  heavens  were  swollen  with  vaporous  masses 
whose  bellies  stooped  in  sulky  shadows  to  the  sharp  lines  of 
the  olive-colored  ridges,  that  I  stood  beside  Cadman  a  little 
before  noon,  sextant  in  hand,  waiting  with  him  for  the  sun  to 
make  eight  bells.  George,  the  young  steward,  in  grimy  shirt 
sleeves  and  bare-headed,  came  up  through  the  companion  and 
approached  the  captain. 

"  What's  it  now?"  said  Cadman,  speaking  sharply. 

"  There's  no  more  rum  left,  sir." 

"  Ho  ! "  cried  Cadman.     "  Have  you  squeezed  the  jar  ? " 

"  There's  ne'er  a  trickle,"  said  George.  "  I  guess  I  sarved 
out  the  last  drop  yesterday.  There's  nowt  but  the  smell 
left,  sir." 

"And  haint  that  to  be  sarved  out  too?"  exclaimed  Cad- 
man, turning  his  eyes  upon  me  with  a  grin,  and  then  looking 
aloft  for  the  sun.  After  a  pause  he  exclaimed,  "  The  men 
mustn't  be  kept  waiting,  Morgan.  I'll  make  it  eight  bells 
while  you  take  a  lighted  lantern — and  mind  it  aint  a  naked 
flame — and  go  into  the  lazarette  and  broach  one  of  the  casks 
of  rum  that's  stowed  there." 

I  put  my  sextant  away,  and,  followed  by  George,  went  with 
a  lantern  into  the  lazarette.  This  was  a  part  of  the  brig  down 
in  the  run,  under  the  cabin  ;  it  was  entered  by  a  little  hatch  in 
the  cabin  floor.  I  dropped  through  ;  George  handed  down 
the  lantern  and  came  after.  I  had  not  before  visited  this 
lazarette,  nor  indeed  entered  any  part  of  the  vessel's  hold.  It 
would  have  been  pitch  black  but  for  the  lantern,  black  as 
storm  and  full  of  the  thunder  of  the  sea  outside,  with  frequent 


A   DIFFICULTY.  35 

violent  shocks  running  through  as  the  surge  hit  the  brig  and 
swung  her. 

I  held  up  the  lantern  and  looked  around.  There  was  not 
much  to  see  ;  all  the  cabin  provisions  were  here,  and  some  of 
the  stores  for  the  crew's  use.  But  the  show  was  extraordinarily 
poor.  I  made  out  a  few  barrels  of  pork,  a  few  casks  of  flour 
and  bread,  and  a  few  cases  of  tinned  meat  and  preserved 
spuds,  along  with  some  jars  of  lime  juice  and  vinegar. 
Everything  was  "  few."  I  spied  no  rum  casks — nothing 
resembling  such  things.  To  search  was  not  hard,  for  there 
was  plenty  of  room. 

"Who  says  the  rum's  stowed  down  here?"  I  shouted, 
making  my  voice  heard  with  difficulty,  so  confusing  were  the 
sounds  of  the  straining  and  washing  fabric  in  this  lazarette. 

"  If  it  aint  here  it's  nowhere  else,"  answered  George. 

I  put  on  the  hatch,  gave  the  lantern  to  the  steward,  and 
went  on  deck. 

As  I  mounted  the  steps  I  found  Mr.  Fletcher  holding  on  by 
the  companion.  He  was  of  a  tallowy  paleness,  and  his 
whiskers  wanted  their  former  hedge-like  wiriness.  I  wished 
him  good-morning,  and  said  I  hoped  he  was  now  cured 
of  his  seasickness.  He  put  his  hand  on  his  stomach  and 
shook  his  head. 

"  The  nausea  has  passed,"  he  said,  "  but  I  am  somewhat 
feeble.  Yet  those  who  do  business  in  deep  water  must  be 
prepared  for — for — this  sort  of  thing,"  he  bleated  out  after  a 
pause,  during  which  the  brig  gave  one  of  her  vicious  kick-ups 
astern,  followed  by  a  long  bowel-drawing  slant  over  to  lee- 
ward, till  the  oil  smooth  back  of  the  huge  sea  swelled  in  a 
headlong  run  from  the  very  edge  of  the  bulwark  rail. 

I  walked  up  to  Cadman,  who  a  minute  before  had  bawled 
out,  "  Strike  eight  bells,"  and  said,  "There's  no  rum  in  the 
lazarette,  sir." 

"  Hey  !  "  cried  he. 

I  repeated  the  sentence. 

He  seemed  to  start  ;  his  dramatic  recoil  and  convulsive 
straddle  were  very  well  managed  ;  I  even  fancied  he  con- 
trived that  his  long,  snout-like  face  should  turn  a  trifle  pale. 

"  Heavens  alive,  man,  what  d'ye  say?  No  rum  !  "  he  cried. 
"  Where  have  you  looked  ?  " 

"In  the  lazarette,  sir,"  I  answered. 

"  No  rum  !  "  he  cried  again.  "  Man,  you  must  be  blind  ! 
I  saw  the  receipt  for  delivered  hogsheads,  and  if  you  tell  me 
there's  no  rum  in  the  lazarette,  then  Mr.  Abraham  Winton 
stands  to  be  convicted  of  one  of  the  impudentest  frauds  that 


36  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

was  ever  brought  afore  the  notice  of  an  English  court  of  law. 
Look  again — look  again  !  "  he  yelled,  with  a  demonstrative 
motion  toward  the  forecastle,  as  if  he  would  have  the  sailors 
observe  what  was  passing.  "  Stop,"  he  added,  "  I'll  look  for 
myself." 

So  saying  he  zigzagged  off  to  the  companion  on  his  com- 
pass-like legs  and  disappeared. 

Meanwhile  Fletcher  stood  holding  on,  looking  palely  round 
upon  the  sea.  Catching  my  eye  he  called  me  to  him  with  a 
jerk  of  his  head. 

"  Nothing  wrong,  Mr.  Morgan,  I  hope  ?  "  said  he. 

I  explained. 

He  too  gave  a  dramatic  start,  and  ejaculated,  "  No  rum 
for  the  sailors  !  How's  that  ?  The  casks  were  ordered  and 
paid  for,  and  I  understood  from  Captain  Cadman  that  they 
had  been  securely  stowed  in  the  lazarette." 

"  They  may  be  in  another  part  of  the  hold,"  said  I. 

"  D'ye  think  so  ?  I  hope  you're  right.  I  fear  they  are  not, 
though.  You  would  know  a  rum  cask  at  a  glance  ?  " 

"  At  a  glance." 

"  If  they  are  not  in  the  lazarette,  then  I'm  afraid  they're  not 
in  the  ship.  Am  I  the  victim  of  a  cruel  fraud  ?  Abraham 
Winton  too,  of  all  men — a  person  of  the  first  credit  in  Bristol  ! 
To  cheat  me,  an  old  friend  !  But  there  must  be  some  mis- 
take ! "  he  exclaimed,  letting  go  his  hold  to  wave  his  hands 
with  a  large,  benevolent  gesture. 

Just  then  I  noticed  the  ship's  company  gathering  into  a  body 
near  the  galley,  every  man  holding  a  pannikin  for  the  "tot  " 
that  had  heretofore  been  regularly  served  out  at  eight  bells. 
Their  uneasy  movements  indicated  impatience,  and  the  head 
of  the  cook  came  and  went  in  the  galley  door  like  the  comb  of 
a  cock  through  the  rails  of  a  hen  coop. 

Then  a  voice  bawled,  "Aint  that  gallus  young  George 
a-going  to  show  a  leg  with  the  grog  to-day  ? " 

At  that  moment  Cadman  came  up  the  companion  steps. 
He  carried  a  manner  of  excitement,  and  talked  aloud  as  he 
mounted. 

"  Mr.  Fletcher,"  said  he,  "  you've  been  cheated  !  Boil  me 
alive,"  he  cried,  fetching  the  companion  hood  a  hard  blow  with 
his  fist,  "  if  there's  e'er  a  cask  of  rum  or  anything  like  it  in  the 
lazarette  !  " 

Fletcher  looked  with  an  expression  of  dismay  from  Cadman 
to  me,  then  round  at  the  man  at  the  wheel,  who  was  easily 
within  earshot. 

"  We  have  Winton's  receipt  for  the  money,"  said  he  in  a  loud 


A    DIFFICULTY.  37 

voice,  and  he  began  to  flourish  his  arms  and  topple  about  in 
postures  of  indignation  and  wonder  and  incredulity,  all  very 
well  done  seeing  how  poorly  equipped  the  dog  was  as  an  actor, 
what  with  his  stiff  whiskers  clamping  his  face,  and  his  nose 
going  like  a  rivet  through  the  surface  of  his  countenance, 
fixing  it. 

"  Aye,  and  the  stevedore  told  me  the  goods  were  shipped. 
There's  not  only  been  an  artful  fraud  :  wuss  lies  behind — 
there's  collusion  !  "  cried  Cadman. 

"  Aint  we  to  have  our  regular  'lowance  of  grog  to-day  ?" 
sung  out  one  of  the  crew  angrily.  By  this  time  the  fellows, 
all  hanging  together  in  a  little  mob,  had  come  some  distance 
forward,  the  carpenter  in  the  front  and  the  cook  in  the  tail. 

"  Speak  to  'em,  Cadman,"  said  Fletcher. 

"  Will  the  casks  have  been  stowed  in  another  part  of  the 
hold  ? "  said  I. 

"  No  ! "  roared  Cadman,  "  if  they  aint  in  the  lazarette 
they're  ashore.  Of  all  the  artfullest,  impudentest  cheats " 

Passion  seemed  to  choke  him,  and  he  shook  his  fist  at  the 
horizon. 

"  Speak  to  them,"  cried  Fletcher.  "  Tell  them  how  deeply 
grieved  we  are  to  disappoint  them  in  their  just  and  lawful 
expectations.  Explain  that  I  myself  have  been  very  cruelly 
used,  and  may  suffer  a  heavy  pecuniary  loss  if  I  cannot  prove 
the  non-shipment  of  the  goods." 

"  See  here,  my  lads,"  exclaimed  Cadman,  going  some  paces 
forward  with  skating,  dodging  motions  of  his  legs,  "  I'm  sorry 
to  saythere's  no  rum  left  in  the  brig.  The  little  there  was  is 
all  drunk  up.  Several  hogsheads  was  ordered  and  paid  for 
by  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  there,  and  we've  got  the  ship 
chandler's  receipt  if  you  want  to  see  it,  but  ne'er  a  thimbleful 
of  that  there  order  has  been  delivered." 

The  hairy,  wiry  man  with  the  clasp  knife  round  his  neck — 
his  name  was  Thomas  Beetle — bawled  out,  "  We  don't  know 
nothen  about  receipts  nor  Mr.  Fletcher  o'  Bristol.  We  signed 
for  the  grog,  and  we  must  have  it." 

"  There's  ne'er  a  drop  in  the  brig,  I  tell  'ee,"  cried  Cad- 
man, averting  his  face  and  looking  askew  at  the  man  with 
eyes  of  murder. 

"  What's  that  got  to  do  with  us  ?  "  roared  the  cook,  coming 
into  the  knot  of  seamen  with  a  thrust  of  his  naked  yellow 
elbows. 

Fletcher  let  go  his  grasp  of  the  companion  hatch  to  address 
the  men.  A  sudden  lurch  ran  him  violently  against  the  bul- 
wark rail.  He  hung  on  by  a  belaying  pin,  and,  assuming  the 


38  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

blandest  patronizing  manner  and  benevolent  tone  of  voice  his 
long  seasickness  and  present  uncomfortable  posture  permitted, 
he  exclaimed,  "  Men,  let  us  discuss  this  unfortunate  matter  as 
friends.  There's  no  need  whatever  to  lose  our  tempers  nor  to 
indulge  in  violent  language." 

"  No  taffy,"  shouted  one  of  the  sailors  ;  "  gi'  us  our  grog. 
The  grub's  bad  enough,  and  suffocate  me  if  it's  to  be  made 
wuss  by  your  sneaking  our  'lowance  of  rum  from  us." 

"  Men,"  exclaimed  Fletcher,  forcing  a  smile  and  attempting 
a  large,  bland,  friendly  gesture  of  arm,  "  I  entreat  that  you'll 
not  give  vent  to  your  feelings  in  strong  and  offensive 
language.  My  desire  is  to  obtain  for  the  crew  of  this  brig 
a  character  for  respectability,  sobriety,  and,  let  me  add, 
piety " 

"  Blather  aint  going  to  be  sarved  out  'stead  of  rum  aboard 
here!  "  shouted  Beetle,  springing  in  his  temper  half  a  fathom  in 
advance  of  his  shipmates.  "  'Twasn't  to  be  pump  or  sink  with 
us,  as  ye  know,  capt'n  ;  that  mucking  job  came  all  right.  We 
don't  want  to  say  nothen  more  about  it.  But  here's  a  matter 
of  agreement  'twixt  you  and  us.  We  want  our  'lowance  of 
rum.  If  it  aint  to  be  granted  you'll  work  this  here  trough 
yourself.  I'm  one  as  goes  below." 

He  thumped  his  chest  and  swung  his  knife. 

"  If  you  don't  belay  that  infernal,  impudent  jaw  of 

yourn "  shouted  Cadman.  He  checked  himself  with  a 

sideways  look  at  Fletcher. 

"What'll  'ee  do,  hey?  What'll 'ee  do?"  snorted  Beetle, 
with  his  face  full  of  blood  and  his  head  stooped  like  a  ram  for 
the  toss. 

"  Get  away  forrard  till  I  talk  the  thing  over  with  Mr. 
Fletcher,"  cried  Cadman,  and  he  then  stepped  across  to 
Fletcher,  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  walked  with  him  a  little 
distance  aft. 

The  men,  with  rolling  bodies  and  shuffling  feet  and  mut- 
tering lips,  waited.  The  spirit  of  mutiny  showed  strong  in 
every  face  my  sight  went  to.  And  indeed  I  heartily  hoped 
for  some  bloodless  outbreak  of  it  to  send  us  to  an  English 
port,  for  I  was  already  sick  of  the  brig,  thoroughly  distrusted 
Cadman,  disliked  and  feared  his  companion  and  owner,  and 
was  very  uneasy  as  mate  under  a  theory  of  discipline  which 
apparently  made  one  end  of  the  vessel  as  good  as  the  other. 
I  had  witnessed  revolt  among  seamen,  but  never  such  sudden, 
contemptuous  defiance  as  this  ship's  company  had  exhibited. 
Yet  I  could  have  sworn  to  all  hands  of  them  as  a  sturdy, 
straight-minded  body  of  sailors,  above  the  average.  Was  it 


A    DIFFICULTY.  39 

that  they  scorned  Captain  Cadman  as  a  man  immeasurably 
inferior  to  the  lowest  among  them. 

He  came  along  the  deck  after  a  few  minutes,  and,  standing 
on  wide  legs,  with  his  hands  buried  in  his  coat  pockets 
and  his  face  averted,  he  told  the  crew  that  he  had  been 
bidden  by  the  owner  of  the  Hebe  to  offer  them  money  in 
lieu  of  rum.  This  proposal  was  received  with  shouts  of  dis- 
approval. Several  voices  spoke  at  once.  Cadman  tried  to 
obtain  silence  by  shaking  his  fist  ;  then,  finding  his  oppor- 
tunity, said  that  the  money  given  for  the  rum  would  be  cal- 
culated on  the  value  of  the  spirit,  duty  paid.  "  This  extrary 
money,"  he  told  them,  "  yell  take  up  at  the  end  of  the 
voyage,  and  a  handsomer  proposal  never  was  made  on  a  ship's 
deck0-  afore." 

I  looked  and  I  listened,  but  could  distinguish  little,  owing  to 
the  uproar.  Every  man  bawled  an  insult  or  howled  a  threat 
on  his  own  account  without  regard  to  what  the  rest  were 
shouting ;  but  I  presently  understood,  and  so  did  Cadman, 
that  unless  rum  to  supply  their  legitimate  claims  was  not  pro- 
cured from  a  passing  ship  within  three  days,  they'd  do  no  work 
except  to  sail  the  vessel  back  to  Bristol.  When  they  had 
made  themselves  perfectly  clear  on  this  point  they  went 
forward. 

George  came  aft  with  the  cabin  dinner  shortly  after  the 
cook  had  returned  to  the  galley,  and  Fletcher,  who  had  stood 
in  talk  with  Cadman,  went  below.  Cadman  now  approached 
me,  and  I  naturally  supposed  that  he  would  at  once  talk  about 
this  difficulty  of  the  rum.  Not  a  word  did  he  say  on  the  sub- 
ject. He  told  me  to  make  sail  if  the  wind  decreased  while 
he  was  at  dinner,  and  to  report  any  ship  that  should  heave  in 
sight.  Then,  looking  toward  the  forecastle,  he  added,  "  I 
haint  over-well  satisfied  with  that  there  carpenter.  He's 
acting  second  mate,  but  he's  too  much  in  with  the  men  to  soot 
my  books.  I  doubt  that  he's  up  to  much.  A  pretty  ship's 
carpenter  not  to  know  that  wood's  to  be  seasoned  by  water  ! " 

"With  a  full  hold  ? "  said  I  dryly. 

"  Yes,  and  with  a  full  hold,"  he  answered,  darting  a  malevo- 
lent glance  at  me.  "What's  dunnage  for,  hey?  And  how's 
lie  to  know,"  he  cried,  with  a  toss  of  his  chin  toward  the  fore- 
castle, "  what  the  lower  tier  of  cargo  consists  of  ?  It  may 
come  to  you  and  me  keeping  watch  and  watch,"  and  he  walked 
muttering  to  the  companion  way  and  disappeared. 

He  was  wise,  perhaps,  not  to  fall  foul  of  me  in  his  temper, 
though  there  was  an  unmistakable  gleam  of  dislike,  if  indeed 
no  darker  passion  lived,  in  the  look  he  had  given  me.  I  walked 


40  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  deck,  thinking  hard.  The  fellow  at  the  wheel  accosted 
me,  evidently  wanting  to  hear  what  I  thought  about  the  men's 
grievance.  I  told  him  to  mind  his  helm,  and  continued 
walking.  There  was  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  this  business 
of  the  rum  was  a  conspiracy  betwixt  Cadman  and  Fletcher  to 
defraud  the  crew.  The  casks  of  spirit  never  had  been  ordered; 
one  might  swear  to  that.  No  ship  chandler  durst  cheat  so 
nakedly.  Had  the  goods  been  ordered  they  would  have  been 
delivered,  and  a  receipt  given  by  the  person  in  charge  of  the 
brig  at  the  time.  That  person  should  have  been  the  mate. 
Was  this  one  among  other  reasons  why  my  services  had  not 
been  required  until  the  day  before  we  sailed  ?  What  was 
intended  ? 

Suspicion  lay  hard  and  dark  in  me,  and  yet  I  could  not  give 
it  a  name.  Maybe  I  was  somewhat  thrown  off  the  scent  by 
the  skipper  offering  the  sailors  money  instead  of  rum.  But 
the  two  men's  pretended  wonder  and  temper  on  my  discover- 
ing that  no  spirit  casks  were  in  the  lazarette,  coming  on  top 
of  that  water  which  had  swamped  our  hold  when  we  warped 
out  of  dock,  convinced  me  that  something  evil  was  in  the 
hatching,  though  that  it  was  to  put  our  lives  in  jeopardy  I 
could  not  believe,  seeing  that  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  was  one 
of  us. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A    PLOT. 

IT  turned  out,  however  (to  my  secret  mortification),  no 
later  than  two  days  after  the  trouble  about  the  grog,  that 
Cadman  was  in  luck,  and  thus  it  happened  : 

I  came  on  deck  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  relieve 
the  carpenter,  and  beheld  one  of  the  strangest  scenes  of  sea 
and  sky  that  I  can  recall.  The  weather  was  almost  a  calm  ;  a 
faint  air  blew,  light  as  the  breeze  off  a  butterfly's  wing,  yet  the 
brig  under  all  plain  sail  was  stealthily  creeping  over  an  ice- 
colored  sea,  heavily  hung  with  curtains  of  white  vapor.  The 
stuff  was  thin  in  some  places,  and  eastward  you  could  see  the 
sun  through  it,  hanging  dim  and  small  there,  like  an  old  worn 
guinea. 

Though  there  was  little  air  stirring,  the  vapor  sailed  stately 
over  the  face  of  the  waters  in  vast  blocks  and  columns  of  the 
sheen  of  Parian  marble  ;  the  white  firmament  seemed  to  rest 
upon  them  ;  they  opened  in  aisles,  and  presently  down  one 
spacious  corridor — it  then  wanting  eight  or  ten  minutes  of 


A   PLOT.  41 

two  bells — I  spied  the  figure  of  a  large  topsail  schooner,  her 
hull  resting  like  a  streak  of  ebony  upon  the  sea,  and  her 
white  sails  blending  with  the  mist  till  they  looked  like  shreds 
of  the  vapor. 

The  captain  and  Mr.  Fletcher  were  in  the  cabin.  I  put  my 
head  into  the  skylight  and  reported  a  sail  within  two  miles  of 
us.  They  both  came  up  ;  our  helm  was  shifted,  and  the  brig 
floated  slowly  toward  the  schooner,  her  jib  boom  on  end  with 
her. 

This  was  the  first  sail  we  had  sighted  since  the  grog  trouble. 
The  sailors,  at  work  on  jobs  aloft  and  in  various  parts  of  the 
deck,  grinned  soberly  when  they  saw  our  helm  shifted  for  the 
stranger.  The  fog  thinned  down  as  we  advanced,  leaving 
a  wide  breast  of  white  water  with  a  frosty-misty  ripple  of 
light  under  the  sun  at  the  foot  of  a  soft  mass  of  whiteness  there. 

"  A  beautiful  little  ship  !  "  said  Mr.  Fletcher,  pulling  at  one 
wiry  whisker  with  square-ended  fingers,  turning  up.  "  A  gen- 
tleman's private  yacht,  I  should  think,  and  not  very  likely  to 
supply  our  wants." 

"  A  fruiter,  sir,  you'll  find,"  exclaimed  Cadman.  "  Sweet  and 
flush  with  oranges  and  raisins  from  the  Mediterranean.  If 
I'm  right  she  ought  to  be  able  to  oblige  us,  if  not  with  the 
sperrit  we  want,  then  with  summat  hot  enough  to  keep  the 
— the — ahem  !  quiet  till  we  falls  in  with  another  vessel,"  and 
here  he  stole  an  askant  look  around  the  deck  to  observe  who 
listened. 

Presently  we  were  within  hail.  A  beautiful  model  that 
schooner  was — a  fruiter  beyond  question,  as  Cadman  had 
said  :  long  and  low,  with  a  saucy,  piratic  spring  of  bow,  rak- 
ing, star-searching  masts,  and  such  a  spread  of  gleaming  wing 
as  seemed  to  carry  her  main  boom  half  her  own  length  over 
the  taffrail. 

"  Schooner  ahoy  !  "  shouted  Cadman. 

"  Hollo!  "  echoed  a  tall  man  in  a  white  wide-awake,  leisurely 
coming  to  the  quarter-deck  bulwark  rail  and  leaning  upon  it 
as  though  to  survey  us  for  his  entertainment. 

"  What  schooner's  that  ?"     ' 

"  The  Jack-cf-Lanthorn,  from  Barceloney  to  the  Thames. 
What  ship  are  you  ?  " 

The  information  demanded  was  vouchsafed.  Cadman  then 
sung  out  to  me  to  back  the  main  topsail,  and  while  this  was 
doing  he  bawled  to  the  other  to  know  if  he  had  any  rum  to 
sell.  The  man  stood  upright  and  appeared  to  consider  ;  after 
consulting  with  another  who  had  stationed  himself  alongside 
him,  he  cried  back  : 


42  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  How  much  d'ye  want  ?  " 

"  How  much  can  you  spare  ?  " 

"  A  quarter  cask." 

"  I'll  send  a  boat,"  shouted  Cadman  with  a  spasmodic  flour- 
ish of  his  hand.  He  was  about  to  address  me.  "  No  !  "  he 
said,  "  I'll  go  myself."  He  nipped  Mr.  Fletcher  by  the  sleeve 
and  walked  apart  with  him,  and  while  the  boat  was  lowering 
I  overheard  them  arguing  on  the  value  of  a  quarter  cask  of 
rum.  Fletcher  then  brought  some  money  from  his  cabin,  and 
Cadman  got  into  the  boat  and  was  pulled  to  the  schooner  by 
three  seamen. 

I  particularly  noticed  the  age  and  meanness  of  that  boat 
while  Cadman  was  entering  her.  She  looked  as  though,  having 
been  washed  ashore  from  a  wreck,  she  had  been  found  stranded, 
blistered,  and  crazy,  and  straightway  hoisted  without  a  dab  of 
paint  or  the  blow  of  a  hammer  to  the  davits  of  \heHebe; 
and  scarcely  had  Cadman  scrambled  over  the  schooner's  side 
when  one  of  the  men  in  that  boat  began  to  bale. 

The  skipper  was  a  long  time  gone  ;  I  reckoned  he  was  trying 
to  drive  a  bargain.  The  vessels  had  drifted  a  good  boat's  pull 
apart  before  the  cask  of  rum  was  lowered  to  the  men  along- 
side. The  boat  then  made  for  the  brig,  two  hands  rowing  and 
one  baling,  and  the  cask  was  hoisted  aboard.  Cadman,  with  a 
purple  face,  came  over  the  rail,  and  the  boat  was  hooked  on 
and  dragged  to  the  davit  ends,  discharging  a  stream  of  water 
as  she  mounted. 

At  noon  that  day  a  "  tot "  of  grog  apiece  was  served  out  to 
the  men,  who  said  it  was  very  good  rum,  better  than  what  they 
had  been  having,  and  this  perhaps  because  it  was  considerably 
above  proof,  too  scorching  for  even  the  cook  to  drink  neat. 

It  held  fair  and  very  quiet  throughout  the  day  ;  before  the 
morning  watch  was  out  it  was  all  clear  weather,  with  a  high 
warm  sun  and  smooth,  soft,  dark  blue  water.  It  was  my  watch 
below  from  twelve  to  four.  After  I  had  worked  out  my  sights 
I  ate  some  dinner  alone  and  entered  my  cabin,  where,  lying  in 
my  bunk  after  reading  a  while,  I  fell  asleep.  I  was  called  at 
four  by  George,  and  again  went  on  deck  to  relieve  the  car- 
penter, who,  spite  of  the  captain's  talks  and  threats,  still  kept 
watch  and  watch  with  me.  As  I  went  up  the  companion  steps 
Fletcher  came  out  of  his  athwart  ship's  cabin  under  the  wheel, 
and  giving  me  a  large,  patronizing  nod,  went  directly  to  the 
captain's  berth. 

The  waning  afternoon  was  very  glorious.  There  was  a 
delicate  vagueness  of  amber  atmosphere  at  the  junction  of  sky 
and  water,  which  stretched  the  ocean  into  a  measureless 


A    PLOT.  43 

breast.  Our  canvas  was  yellowing  with  the  afternoon  light  ; 
veins  of  fire  were  kindling  in  the  tarry  shrouds  ;  the  old  brass 
binnacle  hood  burnt  with  crimson  stars,  and  the  glass  of  the 
skylight  flashed  like  the  discharge  of  a  gun  as  the  brig  slightly 
swayed.  I  seemed  to  find  a  sort  of  rude  ocean  beauty  in  the 
old  tub  this  day  as  she  floated  on  the  quiet  sea,  with  her  top- 
most ill-fitting  cloths  sleeping  to  the  breathing  of  the  light 
breeze  up  there.  She  carried  me  in  fancy  to  our  home  waters  ; 
I  beheld  the  white  cliffs  of  the  Channel,  the  black  gaunt  collier 
with  dark  canvas  leaning  from  the  breeze,  with  the  green 
heights  of  the  chalk  beyond  slipping  by  over  her  mastheads, 
and  the  wool-white  line  of  the  surf  upon  the  sands  dim  passed 
her  bow  in  contrast  with  the%harp  white  froth  breaking  in  lit- 
tle leaps  from  the  thrust  of  the  old  cutwater. 

I  talked  for  a  few  minutes  with  the  carpenter,  who  then  went 
forward  for  a  pannikin  of  black  tea  and  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  and 
I  started  to  stump  or  lounge  about  the  deck  for  the  two  hours 
of  the  first  dog-watch,  with  the  promise  of  nothing  to  do  but 
to  send  a  lazy  look  aloft  now  and  again  and  yawn.  But  when 
I  had  been  on  deck  some  ten  minutes  or  so  my  left  boot  hurt 
me  ;  in  short  a  corn  of  longstanding  began  to  worry  me.  To 
remedy  this  I  went  below  to  my  berth  for  an  old  shoe,  never 
supposing  that  I  should  be  longer  than  a  minute  from  the 
deck. 

Hearing  voices  in  the  captain's  cabin,  that,  as  you  remember, 
was  next  mine,  I  entered  my  birth  very  silently,  not  wishing 
Cadman  to  hear  me.  All  was  quiet  down  here  ;  the  heave  of 
the  brig  was  small  and  faint.  The  voices  next  door  sounded 
plain  ;  I  could  not  help  listening,  but  in  listening  I  had  almost 
forgot  the  errand  which  brought  me  below. 

"  It's  no  good  talking,  Mr.  Fletcher,"  I  heard  Cadman  say, 
and  in  no  tone  of  respect  either  ;  "  putting  the  brig  ashore 
on  the  Salvages  won't  do  !  I'll  tell  you  the  objection.  Sup- 
pose we  make  them  rocks  in  daylight  :  there's  no  clapping 
her  ashore  with  a  man  like  Morgan  or  the  carpenter  on  the 
lookout.  What  then  ?  Are  we  to  keep  all  on  standing  off 
and  on  until  dark  ?  That  'ud  be  like  my  splitting  to  the  crew 
and  ruinating  the  whole  bilin',  with  a  lively  chance  of  an 
impeachment — don't  they  call  it  ? — to  follow,  and  a  sentence 
of  lagging  for  the  brace  of  us.  You're  no  sailor.  If  you  was 
you'd  understand  my  objection." 

"  I'm  no  sailor,  it's  true,"  answered  Fletcher,  speaking  in  a 
strong,  warm  voice,  "  but  when  a  thing's  concerted  I'm  for 
sticking  to  the  programme.  Look  at  this  chart.  Here  you 
have  an  island  with  rocks  and  breakers  all  around  it.  There's 


44  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

not  a  spot  on  the  ocean  that  offers  better  excuses  for  going 
ashore.  D'ye  mean  to  say  you  can't  contrive  to  make  it  at 
night  ?  If  you  question  your  own  reckoning,  there's  Morgan  ; 
you  may  depend  upon  his  observations  to  within  a  mile  ;  then 
work  by  dead  reckoning  till  nightfall.  It's  only  giving  the 
helmsman  the  course  for  the  rock,  and  there  you  are." 

"  Yes,  there  I  am,"  responded  Cadman  in  a  sneering  voice. 
"  It  is  easy  enough  to  say  '  there  you  are.'  But  '  there  you 
are's' soon  mucked  up  into  'there  you  haint.'  In  traverses 
arter  this  pattern,  sir,  I  don't  put  the  brig  ashore  where  she 
may  be  found  a  week  or  a  fortnight  arterward  all  stanch. 
When  she  strands  she  must  go  to  pieces.  Yer  want  no 
salvage  job,  I  hope,  along  with  ortr  cargo  ?  She  must  go  to 
pieces,  I  say,  and  in  such  a  fashion  that  you  and  me  won't 
perish  in  consequence.  I  want  my  life  and  you  want  yourn. 
Is  that  right?" 

"  Quite  right,"  exclaimed  Fletcher  somewhat  soothingly  ; 
"  of  course  our  lives  stand  first.  But  why's  Table  Bay  safer 
than  these  rocks  ? " 

"  How  can  yer  ask  ?  Fust  of  all,  wrecks  is  constantly 
happening  there.  That's  like  greasing  the  ways.  What ! 
Table  Bay  again  !  people  say.  Time  there  was  more  lights. 
Time  the  authorities  there  contrived  that  ships  shouldn't 
always  be  going  to  pieces.  See,  now" — and  here  I  judged  by 
the  pause  and  what  followed  that  Cadman  exposed  a  chart  of 
Table  Bay  and  the  coast  to  Fletcher — "  look  at  your  oppor- 
tunities. Here  they  are,  all  the  way  from  Moolly  Point  to 
Hout  Bay.  Green  Point's  the  favorite  spot.  I'll  swear  to 
three  neat  jobs  off  it  in  four  years.  You  can  do  what  j'ou 
like  and  choose  your  own  time  when  you've  got  a  coast  like 
that  to  pick  and  choose  from.  No  hurry  either  to  make  your 
port  keep  an  offing — your  sailors  '11  find  yer  a  reason.  In  the 
calmest  weather  there's  always  a  big  surf  a-thundering  !  I'll 
warrant  it  to  float  every  stick  and  rag  out  of  her  before  the 
morning ;  yet  in  still  weather  the  water's  smooth  to  the  very 
heave  of  the  breaker,  and  if  you've  a  boat  that'll  swim  there's 
no  risk." 

Fletcher  remained  silent  ;  I  saw  him  in  imagination  over- 
hanging the  chart  with  hedge-like  whiskers  and  pear-shaped 
nose,  musing  upon  the  observation  of  the  devil  at  his  side. 

"  I  own,"  continued  Cadman,  softening  his  tone  as  though 
he  fancied  his  companion  was  beginning  to  agree  with  him, 
"  that  the  Salvage  lies  handy  for  the  job,  conveniently  in  the 
road  and  not  by  no  means  to  be  despised  if  so  be  Table  Bay 
warn't  a  dumn'd  sight  more  sootable.  But  there's  no  hurry. 


A   PLOT.  45 

The  money  to  be  taken  up  is  good  enough  to  desarve  a  little 
waiting  for.  It'll  look  a  thousand  times  more  natural  to  go 
ashore  down  Table  Bay  way  than  on  them  handy  rocks  here. 
Everybody  says  on  such  occasions,  'ticularly  when  there's  loss 
of  life,  '  What  a  pity  !  Just  as  they  had  reached  their  port 
too,  pore  chaps  ! '  I'm  for  putting  all  the  nature  that's  to  be 
got  into  jobs  of  this  sort.  Make  true  bills  of  'em,  Mr. 
Fletcher,  true  bills  !  That's  the  tip." 

He  laughed  sloppily  in  his  old  manner. 

"  I'll  think  over  the  matter  a  bit  more  before  deciding,"  pres- 
ently said  Mr.  Fletcher.  "  Not  that  I  mean  you  mayn't  be  right. 
It's  a  big  venture  and  dangerous.  I  want  to  see  my  way  clear 
in  the  matter  of  life — my  life  and  yours,  Cadman  ;  and  I  want 
also  to  be  satisfied  that  when  the  vessel's  put  ashore  she'll  be 
so  thoroughly  wrecked,  so  quickly  gutted,  that  nobody  will 
take  the  trouble  to  meddle  with  her.  If  portions  of  the  cargo 
should  wash  up  about  Table  Bay " 

"Who's  going  to  swear  to  'em?"  interrupted  Cadman. 
"  Who's  going  to  prove  'em  ourn  ?" 

"  The  Salvages  are  uninhabited,"  continued  Fletcher. 
"  Wreck  the  brig  there,  and  a  month,  two  months,  might  pass 
without  the  hulk  being  visited.  In  that  time  the  sea's  bound 
to  have  made  a  clean  sweep." 

"  Two  months,  d'yer  say  ?  I  dunno.  I'd  not  kiss  the  book 
on  that.  There's  always  some  blasted  Portugee  or  other 
a-landing  from  Madeira  in  sarch  o'  roots.  'Sides,"  he  cried, 
raising  his  voice  in  a  sudden  fit  of  temper,  and  continuing  to 
speak  loud,  though  Fletcher  called  "  hush  !  "  two  or  three 
times,  "  when  you  talk  of  casting  a  vessel  away  you're  not  to 
think  only  of  the  advantages  of  the  place  you  choose.  What's 
agin  yer  ?  Ponder  that.  Make  a  ledger  entry  of  them  Salvages 
and  credit  them  with  one,  and  debit  'em  with  twenty,  and  nine- 
teen's  the  contrary  balance." 

Fletcher  said  something  I  did  not  catch  ;  Cadman  then, 
insensibly,  perhaps,  imitating  the  other's  tone,  also  spoke  low. 
I  waited,  hoping  to  catch  more.  Hearing  nothing,  I  went  out, 
and  as  I  did  so  Fletcher  stepped  from  the  captain's  berth  with 
a  chart  rolled  up  under  his  arm. 

He  stood  stock-still  staring  at  me.  As  he  did  not  offer  to 
move  I  walked  round  the  table  to  the  companion  steps,  taking 
one  look  at  his  face — it  was  white  as  death.  I  turned  when  at 
the  foot  of  the  ladder  to  see  if  he  watched  or  followed  ;  he 
had  re-entered  the  captain's  berth. 

On  gaining  the  deck  I  stood  for  some  minutes  gazing  aloft 
and  around,  scarce  able  to  bring  my  wits  so  to  bear  as  to  focus 


46  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  amazing  devilish  conversation  I  had  overheard.  I'll  not 
say  I  was  astonished — all  along  I  had  distrusted  the  scoun- 
drels, though  I  never  knew  what  shape  to  give  my  suspicions — 
but  I  was  dismayed  ;  indeed  my  consternation  was  extreme. 
Everything  was  clear  now  that  I  understood  the  two  villains' 
design  to  wreck  the  brig.  They  had  sunk  her  by  a  stroke  or 
two  of  water  in  the  dock  that  she  might  look  to  haul  out  re- 
spectably freighted.  Their  intention  accounted  for  the  old 
sails  and  bad  gear,  for  the  stranded  foot-ropes  and  rotten 
lifts,  for  what  would  turn  out  to  be  light  anchors  and  short 
cables,  with  chafed  stoppers  and  decayed  catfalls,  and  for  the 
mean  cabin  equipment  and  poor  provisions.  Their  motive  for 
cheating  the  men  out  of  their  rum  was  explained  ;  they  never 
meant  to  pay  the  crew  ;  in  truth  they  had  talked  as  if  they 
meant  to  drown  them. 

What  was  I  to  do  ? 

I  paced  the  deck  deeply  considering.  The  sun  was  large  and 
low  ;  it  was  a  fine,  warm,  shining  afternoon,  the  breeze  gentle 
and  steady,  and  the  sea  like  an  island  lake  save  but  for  the  light 
lift  and  fall  of  old  ocean's  bosom  tranquilly  breathing.  The 
sailors  were  gathered  in  the  forcastle  yarning  ;  the  carpenter 
stood  a  little  away  from  a  group  of  them  with  a  pipe  in  his 
mouth  and  his  arms  folded,  listening.  I  debated  within  my- 
self whether  or  not  I  should  straightway  tell  him  what  I  had 
heard.  But  if  I  do  so,  thought  I,  he'll  certainly  inform  the 
crew,  and  a  hundred  to  one  that  they'll  lock  the  two  scoundrels 
up  and  oblige  me  to  carry  the  brig  home  to  save  the  vessel  and 
their  lives.  That  would  be  piracy  and  mutiny  as  affairs  stand. 
What  could  I  prove  ?  The  men  below  were  two  to  one  ;  they'd 
outswear  me,  and  I  had  no  evidence.  To  be  sure,  the  con- 
tents of  the  hold  might  convict  them  of  fraudulent  design.  But 
until  the  brig  was  cast  away  the  villains  surely  would  be  guilt- 
less of  anything  cognizable  by  the  law. 

I  paced  the  deck,  resolved  to  think  deeply  and  prudently 
ere  deciding  on  action.  Would  the  two  rogues  judge  I  had 
overheard  them  ?  They  might  hope  I  had  stepped  into  my 
berth  for  a  minute  and  caught  nothing  material,  nothing  but 
the  rumble  of  their  voices.  Would  their  fears  allow  them  to 
think  this?  They  might  even  now  be  trying  the  capacity  of 
the  bulkhead  by  talking  either  side  of  it.  But  granted  that 
they  made  up  their  minds  to  believe  I  had  got  their  secret ; 
what  then  ?  Would  they  make  away  with  me  ?  I  had  no  fear 
on  that  head,  somehow.  I  knew  them  now  to  be  villains,  but  I 
was  also  cocksure  they  were  cowards,  willing  to  take  their 
chance  indeed  of  being  lagged  for  a  good  booty,  but  very 


THE   GREAT  SALVAGE    WATERING  SCHEME.  47 

unlikely  to  venture  their  necks  even  for  the  freight  of  a  plate 
ship. 

I  saw  nothing  of  them  for  half  an  hour  after  I  had  left  the 
cabin  ;  Cadman  then  came  up  humming  some  tuneless  thing 
as  he  stepped  with  zigzag  gait  to  the  compass  ;  he  glanced  at 
the  card,  looked  with  a  leisurely  eye  and  a  composed  face 
round  upon  the  sea,  and  gazed  at  the  men  forward  without 
the  least  hint  of  uneasiness  in  his  manner.  I  watched  him 
furtively,  but  with  impassioned  attention  all  the  same,  and 
after  a  little  felt  so  far  reassured  that  I  could  swear  he  did  not 
suspect  I  had  overheard  a  word  that  had  passed.  He  pres- 
ently pulled  out  one  of  his  bad  cigars  and  lighted  it  at  a  match 
held  in  his  soft  felt  hat,  glancing  about  him  in  a  sailorly  look- 
out way,  and  saying  nothing  to  me  according  to  his  custom. 

It  wanted  something  of  two  bells,  the  cabin  supper  hour. 
Fletcher  now  appeared  and  hung  a  while  in  the  companion 
hatch,  looking  round  upon  the  placid  scene  of  glorious  ocean 
afternoon  with  a  bland  patronizing  air  that  pronounced  he 
found  it  satisfactory.  His  color  had  returned,  and  he  was 
entirely  the  large-chinned,  whiskered,  pear-shaped  nosed  Mr. 
Fletcher  of  Bristol  again. 

"  Lovely  weather,  Cadman,"  he  called  out. 

"  Aye,  sir,"  answered  Cadman,  speaking  with  his  cheap  cigar 
drooping  at  his  lips.  "  There's  no  shore-going  physic  to 
match  this.  Here's  medicine  to  restore  you  to  your  home  a 
well  man,  Mr.  Fletcher." 

The  owner  of  the  brig  lifted  up  his  eyes  with  an  expression 
of  gratitude,  then  stepped  over  to  the  captain  and  they  walked 
the  deck. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  GREAT  SALVAGE   WATERING  SCHEME. 

WHEN  supper  was  reported  ready  Fletcher  and  Cadman 
went  into  the  cabin  and  sat  at  the  table  under  the  skylight, 
which  stood  open,  so  that  I  caught  their  talk  as  I  paced  past ; 
it  was  on  indifferent  matters,  and  might  have  been  the  chat  of 
two  men  meeting  for  the  first  time.  I  was  mighty  pleased  that 
neither  of  the  rogues  had  addressed  me  when  on  deck  ;  I  was 
young,  with  a  telltale  face  ;  I  wanted  a  little  time  to  master 
myself.  It  is  an  earthquake  shock  to  any  man  to  stumble 
unawares  on  a  great  crime  in  the  hatching,  to  all  on  a  sudden 
come  across  that  ancient,  foul,  black  hen  Sin  on  one  of  the, 
deadliest  of  her  blood-red  eggs. 


4»  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I  resolved  to  be  decided  by  the  behavior  of  the  two  mis- 
creants ;  if  they  gave  me  to  know  by  the  least  hint  that  they 
were  aware  I  had  overheard  their  talk,  then  I  should  go  to  the 
carpenter,  tell  all,  and  be  advised  by  him  as  an  old  experienced 
seaman.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  I  judged  by  marks  conclusive 
to  my  own  instincts  and  apprehensions  that  the  two  men  did 
not  suppose  I  had  listened,  but  that  they  were  willing  to 
imagine  I  had  looked  into  my  cabin  for  a  minute,  taking  what 
I  wanted  and  leaving  quickly,  seeing  that  I  had  charge  of  the 
deck,  then  I  determined  to  hold  my  peace,  for  the  present  at 
all  events,  always  keeping  a  vigilant  eye  upon  the  brig's  reckon- 
ing and  upon  Captain  Cadman.  If  they  meant  to  cast  the 
brig  away  'twixt  Agulhas  and  Cape  Town  I  should  have  plenty 
of  leisure  for  thinking  on  what  was  best  to  be  done.  As  things 
stood  I  could  offer  no  other  proof  of  their  design  than  declar- 
ing what  I  had  overheard,  but  by  waiting  I  might  be  able  to 
bring  their  villainy  home  to  them,  and  obtain  evidence  to  justify 
myself  and  the  crew  in  taking  any  steps  we  might  think  proper 
to  save  our  lives  and  the  ship. 

The  two  men  sat  in  the  cabin  until  shortly  before  six.  Cad- 
man then  came  on  deck  and  talked  to  me  about  the  starboard 
fore  shrouds  being  slack  ;  he  said  those  shrouds  and  other 
rigging  which  he  named  needed  setting  up  afresh.  He  also 
told  me  that  next  morning  he  would  require  me  to  overhaul 
the  stock  of  fresh  water  aboard. 

**  The  casks  are  stowed  under  the  main  hatch,"  he  said. 
"  They're  easily  got  at.  No  need  to  break  out  anything.  Ever 
called  at  Madeira  ?  " 

"  Never." 

"  It's  a  Portuguese  island,  aint  it  ? " 

"Yes." 

"Them  Portuguese  are  just  the  most  swindling  people  on 
the  face  of  the  yearth.  They  sarved  me  some  gallus  tricks  at 
Lisbon — might  have  ruinated  me  with  their  withering  charges. 
Always  keep  th'  horizon  'twixt  you  and  a  Portugee.  We're  a 
poor  ship,  and  there's  nothen  in  this  here  voyage  that's  a-going 
to  set  me  up  for  life.  Suppose  we  should  need  to  fill  a  cask  or 
two  with  fresh  water,  will  Madeira  charge  me  a  shilling  a 
gallon  ?  More'n  likely.  Them  Portuguese  'ud  chouse  a  ship- 
master into  bankruptcy  as  easy  as  lighting  one  of  their 
dummed  paper  cigars.  D'yer  know  the  Salvages  ?  " 

"  I've  sighted  them,"  I  answered,  meeting  his  askant  gaze 
coolly.  I  was  now  perfectly  self-possessed,  striving  meanwhile 
to  interpret  his  looks,  but  his  snout-like  face  was  as  expres- 
sionless to  my  needs  as  the  head  of  a  cod, 


THE   GREAT  SALVAGE    WATERING  SCHEME.  49 

"  I  fancy  there's  fresh  water  to  be  got  there — I  aint  sure." 

"  They're  uninhabited,  I  believe  ?  " 

"  So  the  yarn  goes.  Likely  as  not.  So  much  the  better  if 
they're  desolate.  You  take  your  fill  and  there's  nothen  to  pay. 
It's  only  a  matter  of  rafting  a  few  casks,  and  there  y'are." 

As  he  said  this  four  bells  were  struck,  and  the  carpenter  at 
once  came  aft  to  relieve  me.  Cadman  turned  on  his  heel  and 
looked  down  the  skylight  for  Fletcher,  and  I  stepped  below  to 
get  some  supper.  I  found  Fletcher  at  the  table  making  notes  ; 
he  at  once  pocketed  his  book,  and  in  his  accustomed  way  of 
addressing  me  asked  about  the  weather,  our  rate  of  progress, 
where  the  trade  wind  was  to  be  found,  and  so  on.  He  left 
me,  after  a  few  minutes,  to  eat  my  supper  alone. 

It  now  entered  my  head  to  imagine  that  the  two  men  meant 
to  watch  me  through  the  mask  of  their  habitual  behavior  to 
gather  by  my  looks  or  speech  whether  I  had  overheard  them. 
I  munched  my  supper  lost  in  thought.  My  situation  was  ex- 
traordinary for  its  tragic  difficulty.  Nevertheless  I  determined 
on  holding  by  my  first  resolution  to  carefully  keep  my  own 
counsel,  at  all  events  for  the  present.  What  did  Cadman 
mean  by  talking  of  watering  at  the  Salvages  ?  We  could  not 
be  running  short  of  fresh  water  yet!  Had  the  two  villains 
concerted  during  the  time  they  were  alone,  after  I  had  stepped 
out  of  my  cabin  and  met  Fletcher — had  they  agreed,  I  say,  to 
wreck  the  brig  on  the  Salvages,  after  all — choosing  to  be  quick 
with  the  criminal  job  now  they  might  fear  I  had  got  wind  of 
their  intention  ? 

Again  and  again  in  thus  thinking  I  half  started  from  the 
table  or  from  my  bunk,  where  I  afterward  lay  down  to  smoke 
a  pipe  till  eight  o'clock,  resolved  to  tell  the  carpenter  what  I 
had  heard  and  to  bring  the  crew  into  the  secret.  But  I  was 
regularly  checked  by  this  consideration  :  What  proof  have  I  ? 
The  two  fellows  would  bluster,  talk  big,  look  innocent,  swear 
I  was  a  foul  liar,  quiet  the  crew  with  repeated  assurances, 
meanwhile  lock  me  up,  with  irons  on  my  legs,  leaving  me  to 
lie  in  my  cell  of  a  cabin  when  they  actually  did  put  the  brig 
ashore,  so  that  it  might  end  in  my  being  drowned. 

The  night  passed  quietly.  Fletcher  took  a  few  turns  of  the 
deck  with  me  at  about  nine  o'clock.  He  talked  of  Bristol, 
asked  me  questions  about  my  father,  my  experience  as  a  sailor, 
and  so  on.  In  a  vague  way  he  made  me  understand  that  he 
had  taken  a  fancy  to  me,  and  equally  vague  was  the  sort  of 
hint  he  ran  through  his  speech  that  it  might  be  before  long  in 
his  power  to  offer  me  command  of  a  vessel.  He  went  below 
with  Cadman,  and  they  played  at  draughts  till  five  bells.  I 


50  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

would  come  to  a  stand  sometimes  and  sneak  a  look  at  them  as 
they  sat  under  the  open  skylight.  You  precious  pair,  thought 
I.  It  was  hot,  and  Fletcher's  face  was  oily ;  his  whiskers 
glistened  with  distilled  devvdrops.  He  looked  a  very  respec- 
table man  ;  I  admired  his  satin  cravat  with  its  two  large  pins, 
his  stiff  stick-up  collar  through  whose  sharp  points  his  chin 
seemed  to  have  burst  as  though,  like  a  pale  suet  pudding,  it 
had  broken  through  its  bag  in  boiling  ;  I  noticed  a  large 
signet  ring  on  his  little  finger,  and  his  watch  chain  was  of 
thick  gold,  and  stretched  from  one  waistcoat  pocket  to  the 
other  with  a  bunch  of  seals  and  fal-lals  between.  Oh,  you  vil- 
lain !  I  thought.  The  other  scoundrel  played  with  his  head 
on  one  side  and  his  little  eyes  leering  down  upon  the  draught 
board  out  of  their  corners.  His  right  hand  wandered  often 
to  a  tumbler  of  spirits.  Sometimes  they  talked,  and  one  or 
another  would  break  into  a  laugh.  After  watching  them  a  while 
I  said  to  myself  :  They  don't  believe  I  overheard  them,  for 
all  Fletcher's  turning  white  as  death  on  meeting  me  at  that 
instant. 

The  light  breeze  freshened  at  seven  bells,  and  before  turn- 
ing in  I  had  taken  the  fore  royal  and  flying  jib  off  the  brig, 
leaving  it  to  the  carpenter  to  let  her  wash  along  for  the  next 
four  hours  under  such  sail  as  he  chose  to  hang  on  to.  We 
were  at  this  time  about  120  miles  northeast  of  Madeira, 
heading  a  course  that  would  put  that  island  abreast  just  out 
of  sight  behind  the  horizon  to  the  westward.  If  Cadman  was 
aiming  for  the  Salvages  he  was  on  the  straight  road  for  those 
rocks,  which  lie  in  latitude  30°  7'  N.,  and  longitude  15°  54'  W. 
They  are  about  118  miles  north  of  the  Canaries — that  is,  Ten- 
eriffe,  and  within  an  easy  run  of  Madeira.  I  had  sighted 
them  on  one  occasion  at  a  long  distance.  The  mariner  com- 
monly gives  them  a  wide  berth,  though  the  Great  Salvage 
Island  shows  a  bold  peak  of  455  feet  in  one  place.  I  had 
never  heard  of  a  ship  watering  there,  and  did  not  know,  indeed, 
that  there  was  fresh  water  to  be  found  on  the  rock.  What 
had  Cadman  in  his  mind  ? 

It  blew  fresh  during  the  middle  watch  and  down  to  six  bells 
in  the  morning  watch.  I  found  the  mainsail  furled  when 
I  came  on  deck  at  four,  and  the  brig  driving  along  over 
a  short  quartering  sea  under  a  main  topgallant  sail  and  a 
reefed  trysail.  She  broke  the  black  water  in  white  masses 
from  her  bows,  as  though  the  squab  tub,  like  something 
sentient,  pursy,  yet  vigorous  withal,  blew  for  breath  as  she 
pitched  and  burst  her  way  along,  with  a  noisy  howling  of  wind 
aloft  among  her  rags  and  slack  gear,  and  much  roaring  under 


THE   GREAT  SALVAGE    WATERING  SCHEME.  51 

her  counter,  where  the  race  of  her  wake  boiled  in  light  like 
a  paddle  wheel's  back  wash. 

But  after  sunrise  the  breeze  slackened.  I  heaped  every 
cloth  upon  the  old  cask  and  ran  up  a  fore  topmast  studding 
sail,  and  at  eight  o'clock  she  was  wallowing  over  it  at  about 
seven  knots,  having  measured  about  seventy  sea  miles  since 
midnight. 

After  breakfast  Cadman  told  me  to  hift  the  main  hatch  and 
find  out  what  quantity  of  fresh  water  there  was  in  the  brig. 
He  hung  about  the  hatch  while  we  were  at  this  work  and 
watched  us  closely,  backing  and  stooping  to  catch  a  sight  of 
me  when  I  got  into  the  gloom  under  the  deck.  Fletcher  also 
came  to  the  hatch  and  looked  on  for  some  time.  I  forget  the 
number  of  water  casks.  They  were  stowed  on  top  of  the 
cargo,  which  just  here  rose  high  and  seemed  fairly  plentiful, 
though  I  well  knew  the  brig  would  have  been  sunk  some  feet 
deeper  had  the  goods  been  stowed  flush  fore  and  aft  as  they 
showed  in  the  square  of  the  hatch.  The  lading  appeared  to 
consist  of  casks  and  .oases.  Knowing  what  I  knew,  I  might 
have  sworn  that  whatever  they  contained  was  warranted  to 
sink  on  the  brig  going  to  pieces. 

I  calculated  enough  fresh  water  to  carry  us  to  the  Cape 
without  risk,  a  fair  average  passage  being  granted.  A  quan- 
tity having  been  already  used,  there  were,  of  course,  several 
empty  casks  among  the  full  ones.  I  came  out  of  the  hold, 
and  Cadman  stood  beside  me,  watching  eagerly  while  the 
sailors  put  the  hatch  cover  and  tarpaulin  on  and  securely 
battened  them  down.  When  that  was  done  he  turned  his 
eyes  upon  me  with  a  sort  of  leering,  cocky,  expressive  look, 
w'hich  seemed  to  me  like  saying  :  You're  satisfied  now,  per- 
haps, that  the  brig  has  a  cargo  ? 

We  then  went  down  into  the  cabin,  where  I  made  the  cal- 
culation I  have  given  above,  Fletcher  sitting  opposite,  and 
Cadman  looking  over  my  shoulder. 

"  What's  the  quantity,  d'yer  say,  Mr.  Morgan  ?  "  inquired 
Fletcher,  leaning  back  with  his  fingers  buried  in  his  waistcoat 
pockets,  the  thumbs  outside,  curling  up. 

I  answered  the  question.     He  looked  at  Cadman,  who  said  : 

"  We  ought  to  fill  up,  sir,  I  think." 

"  You  allow  ten  weeks  to  the  Cape — a  good  margin  ;  and 
here's  Mr.  Morgan's  calculations,  giving  you  a  supply  for 
fifteen  weeks — a  better  margin  still,"  said  Fletcher,  with  one 
of  his  large  smiles,  which  his  whiskers  seemed  to  stop  from 
overflowing  his  neck  and  back  as  though  they  were  embank- 
ments. 


52  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Yer  dunno  know  what  thirst  is  at  sea,  Mr.  Fletcher,"  said 
Cadman.  "  Morgan  '11  tell  you  there's  nothen  orfler.  I'm  for 
having  plenty  of  water,  fresh  and  sweet,  sir,  'ticularly  when  it's 
to  be  got  for  nothing." 

"  We  don't  want  to  be  unnecessarily  delayed,"  said  Fletcher 
smoothly. 

"  It  can't  be  a  matter  of  more'n  a  few  hours,  weather  per- 
mitting," exclaimed  Cadman.  "  Suppose  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks  o'  calm  on  the  line,  and  three  or  four  weeks  o'  hard 
head  winds  in  the  tail  o'  the  southeast  trade,  the  brig  blowing 
to  the  west'ard  on  a  bowline,  or  with  an  athwart  ship  wake 
and  a  treble-reefed  main  tops'l.  It  might  come  to  it.  The 
like  of  such  things  happen  at  sea.  Hey,  Mr.  Morgan  ? " 

"Aye,  indeed  they  do,"  said  I,  who  was  now  standing  up, 
looking  from  one  to  the  other  of  them  as  they  conversed. 

Fletcher  continued  to  talk  argumentatively  ;  he  seemed  in 
a  half-hearted  way  opposed  to  the  Great  Salvage  watering 
scheme,  though  Cadman  gave  him  several  reasons  for  filling 
up  at  that  island,  all  of  them  very  plausible  ;  indeed  they 
would  have  been  sound  had  the  intention  been  honest.  But 
I  had  not  listened  long  when  I  saw  it  had  been  settled  between 
them  that  we  should  heave  to  off  the  rocks. 

Their  project  put  a  new  face  upon  my  difficulty.  Did  the 
rogues  intend  to  clap  the  brig  ashore  under  the  excuse  of 
filling  up  with  fresh  water?  Twenty  times  that  day  had  I  a 
mind  to  communicate  with  the  carpenter,  and  through  him 
with  the  crew.  If  the  captain  cast  the  vessel  away,  then  my 
statement  to  the  carpenter  would  be  beforehand  with  the  vil- 
lain ;  there  would  be  that  man  and  the  crew  to  prove  I  had 
overheard  the  skipper  and  Fletcher  talking  about  wrecking  the 
vessel.  Yet  the  old  consideration  daunted  and  silenced  me; 
I  mean  the  fear  that  Cadman  would  talk  the  sailors  over,  lock 
me  up,  ruin  my  professional  chances,  or  so  use  me  as  in  the 
end  to  destroy  me. 

Nothing,  however,  in  the  behavior  of  the  two  men  caused  me 
to  suspect  they  knew  or  feared  I  had  their  secret.  I  particu- 
larly observed  this,  and  was  so  astonished,  seeing  that  Fletcher 
had  met  me  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  captain's  berth,  that  I 
should  have  doubted  my  own  hearing  and  believed  I  had 
totally  misunderstood  all  that  had  passed  between  them  if  it 
were  not  I  was  now  certain  that  neither  man  imagined  I  had 
overheard  the  conversation. 

It  was  on  a  Tuesday  morning  that  I  made  that  calculation 
about  the  water,  and  on  Thursday,  soon  after  sunrise,  a  man 
who  had  gone  aloft  to  cut  away  some  flapping  bit  of  chaffing 


THE   GREAT  SALVAGE    WATERING  SCHEME.  53 

gear,  sung  out  from  the  fore  topmast  crosstrees  that  there 
was  land  on  the  starboard  bow.  It  was  such  a  morning  as 
one  would  expect  to  find  in  those  latitudes.  The  sun  was  hot 
and  sparkling,  though  but  a  few  degrees  above  the  horizon, 
and  his  reflection  was  a  spreading  breast  of  trembling  splen- 
dor ;  all  the  eastern  sea  was  aflame  with  fires  of  silver  glory. 
The  sky  was  high,  with  delicate  frost-colored  cloud  that  cob- 
webbed  the  blue  from  the  zenith  to  the  western  sea-line.  The 
sea  ran  with  a  light  heave  in  the  wake  of  the  northerly  breeze; 
it  lifted  and  sank  with  a  prismatic  sheen  in  the  atmosphere 
close  down  over  the  dark  blue  of  it  that  made  you  think  of  a 
vast  satin  carpet  swelled  with  the  wind  and  splendid  with  a 
strong  light  slipping  from  one  glossy  rolling  fold  to  another. 

The  brig  floated  slowly  forward  under  ill-fitting  lower  and 
topmast  studding  sails,  the  watch  scrubbing  the  decks,  the 
scuppers  gushing  cloudy  streams  into  the  blue  brine,  which 
passed  alongside  crisp  and  beautiful,  with  little  foam  bells 
and  twinkling  bubbles  of  froth  and  lines  of  ripple  breaking 
from  the  cutwater  like  the  strings  of  a  harp,  musical  with  their 
fountain-like  notes.  The  land  was  in  sight  from  the  deck  at 
ten,  a  double-humped  stretch  of  blue  shadow,  fining  down  into 
a  pencil-shaped  point  southeast.  It  was  the  Great  Salvage 
Island,  a  rock  of  about  a  mile  broad  and  little  less  than  a 
mile  wide,  then  bearing  about  two  points  on  the  starboard 
bow. 

Cadman  was  on  deck  at  this  time,  armed  with  an  immense, 
old-fashioned  telescope,  which  he  would  frequently  level  as 
though  it  had  been  a  blunderbuss.  Fletcher  hung  beside  him, 
and  sometimes  took  the  great  glass  from  his  hand  and  pointed 
it.  The  carpenter  had  charge  of  the  deck  and  was  walking  in 
the  waist.  I  was  too  anxious  to  see  what  went  forward  to 
keep  below,  and  stationed  myself  beside  the  galley,  where  I 
was  out  of  sight  of  Cadman.  The  carpenter,  spying  me, 
came  trudging  a  little  bit  forward,  so  as  to  talk  without  stop- 
ping in  his  short,  pendulum  walk.  The  watch  were  scattered 
about  the  deck,  one  at  the  wheel,  two  on  jobs  aloft,  a  fourth 
stitching  at  a  sail  near  the  main  hatch. 

"  Do  the  captain  mean  to  water  at  that  there  island  ?  "  said 
the  carpenter. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered. 

"  George  brought  the  news  forward.     Our  fresh  water  has 
given  out  plaguey  soon,  haint  it,   Mr.  Morgan  ?     Looks  as  if 
they'd  thought  more  of  swamping  the  hold  than   filling  the 
casks.     D'ye  know  anything  of  that  island,  sir  ? " 
-  "  Nothing  whatever,"  I  answered,   smoking  stolidly,  care- 


54  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP, 

fully  watching  the  rocks'  bearings  meanwhile  to  .observe  how 
the  skipper  was  heading  the  brig. 

"  What's  the  facilities  for  watering  there,  I  wonder  ?  Have 
the  folks  ashore  got  e'er  a  hose  ?  Or  do  it  come  along- 
side ? " 

"  There's  no  hose,"  said  I.  "  The  island's  as  naked  as  my 
pipe  bowl." 

At  this  he  stopped  in  his  walk  and  looked  at  the  land  under 
the  sharp  of  his  hand,  then  glanced  aft  at  Cadman  and 
Fletcher,  and  fell  to  trudging  afresh  with  the  slow,  rolling, 
sulky  gait  of  your  true-born  merchantman. 

"  Are  we  so  hard  up  for  a  drink  of  water  as  this  here  stop- 
page 'ud  make  out  ?  "  said  he. 

"  The  skipper  means  to  fill  his  empty  casks." 

"  If  the  island's  not  inhabited  how  de  'ee  know  that  there's 
any  fresh  water  to  be  got  there  ?  " 

"  I  can't  tell  you." 

He  took  another  look  at  the  island  under  his  hand,  and 
muttering  with  a  puzzled  face,  "  Blamed  if  there  aint  a  good 
deal  aboard  this  brig  that's  not  to  be  understood,"  he  stepped 
back  to  the  part  of  the  deck  which  he  was  first  pacing. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    SALVAGES. 

I  WALKED  aft,  meaning  to  put  my  pipe  away  and  shave. 
Fletcher  stood  motionless  beside  a  backstay,  against  which  he 
steadied  Cadman's  huge  telescope  ;  he  was  viewing  the  island 
as  though  absorbed  by  the  sight,  but  then  after  you  have  kept 
the  sea  for  many  days  you'll  look  at  even  the  littlest  fang  of 
rock  with  interest  as  representing  land  anyhow. 

Cadman  was  walking  the  deck  with  quick,  agitated  strides  ; 
his  movements  reminded  me  of  a  thrush — a  run  of  half  a 
dozen  steps,  then  a  dead  stop  and  a  look  up  aloft.  I  had  my 
hand  on  the  companion  hood  in  the  act  of  descending  when  he 
called  me. 

"  Morgan,  see  all  clear  with  the  jolly-boat.  I  mean  to 
heave  to  off  that  there  island.  You'll  go  ashore  with  a  couple 
of  hands  and  see  if  there's  any  fresh  water  to  be  'ad.  I've 
always  understood  there's  a  spring  on  that  northeast  point. 
If  not,  hunt  about ;  if  seeking  won't  find  it,  try  what  digging  '11 
do.  Git  a  shovel  chucked  into  the  boat.  Mr.  Fletcher  '11  go 
along  with  you.  He  says  he  feels  like  wanting  to  stretch  his 


THE   SALVAGES.  55 

legs  on  dry  land,  and  since  I'm  bound  to  heave  to,  for  them 
water  casks  must  be  filled — though,  of  course,"  said  he,  point- 
ing to  the  island,  "  if  there  aint  no.  water  there,  why — why — 
what  was  I  a-saying  ?  Oh,  yes  ;  since  I'm  bound  to  heave  to, 
Mr.  Fletcher's  quite  right  to  go  ashore.  Why  not  ?  The 
opportunity  of  visiting  a  desolate  island  dorn't  often  happen 
even  to  a  sailor  man  in  a  lifetime.  It'll  be  something  for  him 
to  talk  about  to  his  family  and  friends  when  he  gits  home." 

All  this  he  said  with  his  eyes  upon  me  in  their  corners  as 
usual ;  he  then  started  off  on  his  thrush-like  walk  again,  an 
agitated  run  of  little  hops,  a  dead  stop,  and  a  quick  look  up 
of  his  snout-shaped  face. 

The  jolly-boat  hung  at  davits  on  the  port  quarter  ;  I  saw  all 
clear  with  her — her  old  oars  in,  rudder  ready  for  shipping, 
and  so  forth.  It  was  plain  to  me  now  that  no  mischief  was 
intended  to  the  brig  by  this  proposed  heaving  of  her  too  off  the 
Great  Salvage  Island.  Indeed  she  was  being  so  steered  as  to 
give  the  rock  as  wide  a  berth  as  prudence  required.  We  were 
floating  down  to  it  on  its  western  seaboard,  keeping  it  on  the 
port  bow ;  already  I  saw  the  light  of  breakers  at  a  little  dis- 
tance round  about  it  in  eager  tremulous  flashes  on  the  dark 
blue  water.  The  wind  was  north  ;  we  were  carrying  it  almost 
dead  over  the  taffrail,  and  the  brig,  softly  swaying,  was  wrin- 
kling along  at  some  four  knots. 

I  thought  no  more  of  shaving  myself,  and  having  called  to 
a  hand  to  fetch  the  shovel  out  of  the  fore  peak — the  only  shovel 
the  brig  carried — I  stood  in  the  gangway  looking  at  the  island. 
Fletcher  continuously  eyed  it  through  the  telescope  ;  some- 
times Cadman  stopped  in  his  jerky  walk  to  talk  with  him,  but 
their  voices  were  subdued,  and  reached  me  only  in  a  low  mur- 
mur or  growl  of  conversation. 

By  this  time  we  had  the  island  over  the  port-cathead,  distant 
about  five  miles,  little  more  as  yet  than  a  dark  blue  hazy  heap, 
with  a  milk-white  gleam  of  surf  here  and  there  at  its  base,  and 
features  of  the  land  slowly  stealing  out  of  the  airy  shadow  it 
made  against  the  mackerel  blue  of  the  sky  low  down  past  it. 
Cadman  called  across  to  me  that  there  was  no  need  to  take  an 
observation  with  that  land  in  sight.  So  we  made  eight  bells 
by  the  cabin  clock,  and  all  hands  went  to  dinner. 

When  the  meal  was  over  the  island  was  about  a  mile  away, 
and  Cadman  sung  out  for  a  hand  to  jump  into  the  fore  chains 
with  the  hand  lead.  George  brought  some  dinner  on  deck  for 
the  captain  and  Fletcher,  and  they  ate  it  standing  at  the  sky- 
light, while  I  went  below  and  got  through  a  meal  of  beef  and 
ship's  bread,  topped  by  a  pannikin  of  rum  and  water,  in  five  or 


5 6  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

six  minutes.  On  returning  I  found  the  island  abeam  and  the 
watch  running  about  trimming  sail.  Fletcher  stood  at  the 
backstay  as  before,  strenuously  studying  the  lump  of  rock 
through  the  telescope. 

"  There's  no  sign  of  a  place  for  landing  on  the  west  coast," 
Cadman  bawled  to  me  as  I  put  my  head  through  the  com- 
panionway.  "  We  must  keep  all  on  till  we  see  what  the  eastern 
beach  offers." 

The  man  in  the  fore  chains  was  silent  ;  he  had,  indeed, 
swung  the  lead  to  no  purpose  ;  there  was  apparently  no  bottom 
to  be  touched  with  the  short  scope  of  the  hand  line  on  this 
west  side.  The  island  seemed  to  be  formed  of  volcanic  matter 
and  rocks,  with  strata  of  loose  clay.  I  observed  an  appear- 
ance of  vegetation  on  top,  where  the  slopes  showed  of  a  sullen 
bluish  green.  A  vast  quantity  of  birds  were  flying  over  the 
island  and  wheeling  and  curving  low  down,  looking  like  pieces 
of  torn  and  blown  paper  against  the  stretch  of  pumice-hued 
coast.  The  sea  brimmed  smooth  to  the  rocks  on  the  western 
side,  then  broke  in  tall  glass-clear  combers,  and  the  bursting 
falls  of  that  white  water  came  along  like  the  rolling  notes  of 
an  electric  storm.  The  west  side,  indeed,  was  wild  with  surf 
and  inaccessible  besides  ;  but  as  we  hauled  round  to  the  south 
opening,  a  good  wide  yawn  of  bay,  past  a  long,  pencil-shaped 
arm  of  rock,  we  saw  the  sea  flowing  smoothly  in  a  number  of 
shallow  creeks  and  divisions  in  the  shore,  and  here  the  play  of 
surf  was  very  trifling. 

The  leadsman  in  the  fore  chains  began  now  to  chant,  making 
sixteen  fathoms,  then  seventeen,  then  twenty,  and  so  on,  till 
we  hove  the  brig  too  in  twenty-three,  the  land  then  being  some- 
thing more  than  a  mile  off,  and  bearing  about  N.  N.  W. 

"  Are  yer  ready  to  go  ashore,  Mr.  Fletcher  ? "  cried  Cad- 
man. 

"  Quite  ready,"  answered  the  other.  "  I  have  been  search- 
ing the  island  carefully  with  the  glass,"  he  continued  in  a  loud 
voice,  as  though  desirous  that  all  hands  should  hear  him,  "  and 
can't  make  out  any  signs  of  water." 

"  It  may  be  a-flowin'  out  of  sight,"  said  Cadman. 

"  I  looked  for  the  gleam  of  a  waterfall,"  exclaimed  Fletcher, 
"  but,  as  you  say,  there  may  be  water  there  out  of  sight.  I'm 
ready,  Mr.  Morgan." 

The  jolly-boat  was  lowered  and  brought  alongside.  Two 
seamen  and  Mr.  Fletcher  entered  her  and  I  followed  ;  she 
was  a  tub  of  a  boat,  just  such  a  fat  and  lumpish  child  as  would 
dangle  at  the  nipple-like  davits  of  the  old  Hebe.  I  headed 
her  for  a  little  bit  of  a  bay  on  the  south  side  of  the  island  ; 


THE   SALVAGES.  57 

the  water  lay  perfectly  still  there  ;  further  I  had  taken  notice 
of  a  slope  of  white  beach  that  promised  us  an  easy  climb  to 
the  top  of  the  rocks. 

"  The  sensation  of  being  close  to  the  sea  after  the  elevation 
the  brig's  deck  gives  you  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  little  queer," 
said  Fletcher,  looking  at  the  water.  "  I  believe  I  should  be 
sick  if  I  stayed  long  in  this  boat." 

"  Give  way,  my  lads,"  I  sang  out.  "  The  sooner  we're 
ashore  the  shorter  the  spell  of  baling." 

One  of  the  fellows  scowled  as  he  looked  at  the  bottom  of 
the  boat,  the  other  delivered  a  low,  grim  laugh,  while  I  picked 
up  the  half  of  a  cocoanut  shell  and  began  to  throw  the  water 
out.  The  owner  of  the  boat  gazed  at  his  brig  with  a  fast  yel- 
lowing face.  I  sent  a  glance  at  her  too  while  I  baled  ;  she 
sat  high  and  showed  two  or  three  feet  of  green  sheathing  ; 
the  long  white  letters  of  her  name  snaked  in  the  blue  brine 
under  her  counter  like  streams  of  quicksilver  sinking  ;  she 
had  the  look  of  a  worn-out  collier  with  her  dingy,  swinging, 
ill-fitting  canvas,  main  topgallant  mast  stayed  aft,  and  bow- 
sprit steeved  to  an  angle  of  45°.  What's  she  and  her  cargo 
and  freight  insured  for  ?  I  wondered. 

"  She's  no  beauty,"  said  Fletcher,  meeting  my  eyes,  "  but 
she  has  carried  us  bravely  and  safely  so  far,  and  we  have  much 
to  be  thankful  for." 

I  was  now  looking  at  the  island,  which  we  were  fast  nearing. 
It  was  mouse-colored  in  some  parts,  chocolate-colored  else- 
where, coated  here  and  there  with  some  sort  of  herbage  ;  the 
western  peak  made  a  bold  show ;  it  rose  to  a  height  of  per- 
haps five  hundred  feet  in  rings  of  soaring  ground.  A  long 
hill  went  north  and  south  on  the  east  side  overlooking  the 
wide  curve  of  bay.  I  saw  no  trees,  but  upon  the  seaward  sides 
of  the  heights  were  many  clusters  of  bushes,  small,  thick  masses 
of  vegetation  like  huge  green  sponges  clinging  to  the  declivities. 

Steering  with  one  hand  and  baling  with  the  other,  I  headed 
the  jolly-boat  into  the  bay  ;  her  stem  grounded  on  the  white 
sand  and  I  jumped  out,  Mr.  Fletcher  following. 

"  Haul  the  boat  up,"  said  I  to  the  men.     "  She'll  drain  so." 

"  Keep  by  her — don't  leave  her.  Mind  !  "  said  Mr.  Fletcher. 
"  Mr.  Morgan  and  I  will  search  for  water.  If  the  boat  goes 
adrift  our  situation  will  be  awkward." 

The  fellows  surlily  muttered  "Aye,  aye."  They  did  not 
love  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol,  and  the  condition  of  his  jolly- 
boat  no  doubt  put  a  strong  meaning  into  their  thoughts  of 
him  just  then. 

I  shouldered  the  shovel,  and  we  started,     The  ascent  was 


5  8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

easy,  but  the  sun  was  hot  and  there  was  no  shade.  The  climb 
to  the  top  from  where  the  boat  lay  was  short ;  the  land  ran 
level  for  a  little  distance  north  and  east,  rising  quickly  then 
into  a  hill  which  nearly  rilled  the  east  side  of  the  island.  It 
was  a  walk  of  about  a  mile  from  end  to  end.  Large  tracts  of 
the  soil,  if  soil  it  can  be  called,  were  covered  by  a  plant  called 
by  ithe  Spaniards  barilla,  by  us  saltwort,  bushes  of  a  pale 
bluish  green,  rising  a  little  above  a  foot  high,  with  prickly 
teaves  like  a  cobbler's  awl.  Fletcher  stooped  his  whiskered 
face  to  one  of  those  bushes  and  asked  the  name  of  the  plant. 
I  have  since  learnt  that  and  its  use  (they  get  carbonate  of 
soda  from  it),  but  could  not  then  tell  him. 

He  stood  up,  tipped  his  wide  straw  hat  on  to  the  back  of 
his  head,  and  turned  his  pear-shaped  nose  slowly  round  the 
island  and  the  ocean. 

"  This  will  furnish  me  with  an  impressive  memory,"  said  he, 
slowly  clasping  his  hands  and  smiling  approvingly.  "  I  shall 
turn  to  the  pages  of  'Robinson  Crusoe '  with  renewed  zest. 
I  have  not  read  that  story  since  the  days  of  my  boyhood.  It 
comes  upon  me  fresh  and  strong  with  this  picture  of  loneliness 
and  desolation." 

His  little  eyes  traveled  over  the  island  as  he  talked. 
I  caught  a  tone  in  his  voice  that  was  new  in  him  ;  his  face  was 
yellow,  and  his  mouth  and  eyebrows  twitched  and  worked. 
I  took  these  symptoms  to  mean  that  the  pull  in  the  boat  had 
disordered  him  somewhat. 

We  had  the  brig  clear  in  sight.  The  sun  was  upon  our  left 
and  raining  its  splendor  upon  her,  and  she  lay  radiant  as 
though  gilt — a  toy  of  amber  ;  all  that  was  glossy  with  paint 
or  grease  or  tar  was  streaked  with  fire  ;  her  yellow  topmasts 
burned,  and  golden  flashes  broke  from  her  wet  side  as  she 
rolled.  I  had  never  seen  the  plain  of  ocean  look  vaster,  not 
even  from  the  royal  yard  of  a  twelve  hundred  ton  ship,  and 
bending  my  eyes  steadily  into  the  south  while  Fletcher  with 
large  nostrils  and  an  odd  hurry  in  his  way  of  looking  was 
peering  round,  I  seemed  to  distinguish  in  the  distant  air  the 
faint  blue  liquid  shadow  of  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe. 

As  we  moved,  rabbits  skipped  from  the  bushes  and  fled  to 
other  hiding  places. 

"  I  see  no  appearance  of  water,"  said  Fletcher. 

"  Nor  I,  and  I  doubt  if  there's  any  to  be  found  by  digging," 
said  I,  bringing  the  shovel  down  ringing  upon  the  hard,  lava- 
like  surface. 

"  Where  would  Cadman  have  you  dig,"  he  asked,  "if  not 
on  top  here  ?  " 


THE   SALVAGES.  59 

"  Fresh  water  might  be  found  under  the  sand  down  yonder, 
but  not  enough  nor  sweet  enough  at  that  to  serve  our  turn," 
I  replied,  pointing  to  the  wide  spread  of  white  beach  extend- 
ing between  the  horns  of  the  east  bay,  which  we  could  now 
see  down  the  slope  of  the  hill. 

"  Let  us  try  on  the  other  side  before  we  wear  ourselves  out," 
exclaimed  Fletcher,  and  he  moved  away  with  some  briskness 
toward  the  rising  ground  on  the  west  seaboard. 

I  was  sensible  in  his  manner  of  a  peculiarity  which  I  could 
not  define.  He  seemed  hard  and  frightened  also.  It  entered 
my  head  as  I  followed  him  to  wonder  if  this  visit  for  water 
was  merely  an  excuse  of  his  to  examine  the  island  with  a  view 
to  Cadman  wrecking  the  brig  upon  it  that  same  night.  It  was 
certain,  supposing  we  met  with  fresh  water,  that  we  should  not 
be  able  to  raft  the  casks  and  fill  them  till  next  day,  therefore 
a  long  night  lay  before  the  two  villains  ;  there  were  shoals 
enough  to  choose  from,  and  the  sky  promised  fine  quiet 
weather.  Suspicion  grew  so  strong  in  me  as  I  followed  the 
bulky  figure  of  the  rogue  that  I  now  determined,  on  returning 
to  the  brig,  to  acquaint  the  carpenter  with  what  I  had  over- 
heard. 

Scores  of  birds  wheeled  over  our  heads  uttering  cries  like  the 
bleating  of  lambs  ;  they  were  extraordinarily  fearless,  even  to 
the  extent  of  not  getting  out  of  our  way;  indeed  they  obliged 
us  on  several  occasions  to  step  over  them. 

"  I  see  no  water,"  said  Fletcher. 

"  I  don't  think  you'll  find  any  on  this  side,"  I  exclaimed. 

The  ascent  was  growing  painful  under  the  roasting  sun,  and 
the  soil  betwixt  the  patches  had  a  parched,  dry  face,  full  of 
splits.  Still  Fletcher  pushed  forward,  moving  his  head  from 
side  to  side  as  though  peering  for  water.  Presently  striking 
off  to  the  left  he  reached  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and  stood 
staring  seaward  with  his  hand  sheltering  his  eyes.  The  height 
above  the  ocean  here  was  about  a  hundred  feet  ;  on  our  right 
the  hill  soared  ruggedly  to  that  tall  west  peak  I  have  before 
named. 

"  This  is  a  noble  view,"  exclaimed  Fletcher;  "  how  truly 
magnificent  is  that  play  of  surf  at  the  bottom  there." 

I  drew  close  and  stood  beside  him  to  look  ;  at  that  instant 
he  stepped  back. 

"  Curse  you  !  this  '11  keep  you  silent  !  "  I  heard  him  say. 

The  next  moment  he  thrust  me  over  the  edge. 

I  remember  hearing  of  a  sailor  who,  in  falling  from  a  royal 
yard,  while  in  the  air  said  to  himself,  "  This  is  well  enough  if 


60  THE  EMIGRANT  SUIT. 

it  would  but  last."  I  know  from  experience  that  a  man  can 
think  even  in  the  flash  of  a  fall.  I  recollect  the  expression 
the  villain  used  as  he  pushed  me,  the  pressure  of  his  fists  under 
my  shoulder  blades  as  I  was  hurled  forward.  I  also  recollect 
the  sensation  of  the  lead-like  drop  through  the  air,  followed  in 
a  breath  by  a  mighty  crash,  which  did  not,  however,  in  that 
instant  render  me  senseless,  because  I  can  remember  thinking 
that  I  had  hit  the  sea,  and  that  the  loud  smashing  noise  was  the 
foam  raised  by  my  plunge.  But  after  this  all  was  blank. 

When  I  opened  my  eyes  it  was  dark.  I  tried  to  lift  my 
arm,  but  found  myself  as  completely  snared  and  meshed 
about  as  though  lodged  in  the  heart  of  a  hundred  fathom 
of  trawl  net.  My  wits  were  slowly  returning.  Presently  I 
got  my  mind,  though  feebly,  and  my  first  perception  was  that 
my  head  ached  most  damnably.  I  could  not  imagine  what 
gripped  and  bound  me  so  tenaciously  till  after  a  bit,  by  waving 
my  hands  at  the  wrists  without  moving  my  arms,  I  perceived 
that  I  was  enveloped  by  twigs  and  leaves.  Light  shone 
through  what  resembled  a  cage  of  wire  fencing,  thickly  com- 
plicated by  layer  upon  layer  ;  it  was  the  light  of  the  moon. 
While  I  lay  wondering,  utterly  confounded  and  thunderstruck 
by  my  situation,  I  heard  the  deep,  organ-like  note  of  surf 
rolling  beneath  me,  the  thunder  of  the  breakers  bursting  and 
recoiling  with  the  noise  of  electric  hail.  This  it  was,  I  think, 
which  gave  me  all  I  needed  to  know,  for  after  I  had  listened 
for  a  few  minutes  to  that  sound  of  the  sea  everything  came 
to  me. 

It  was  clear  that  on  my  being  thrust  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff 
I  had  plunged  into  one  of  those  growths  of  bushes  which  hung 
here  and  there  in  clusters,  sponge-shaped,  as  before  described. 
The  crash  of  the  twigs  and  leaves  in  my  ears — the  last  thing 
I  recollect — made  the  roar  which  I  had  supposed  the  thunder 
of  foam.  With  perception  of  my  situation  rose  with  exquisite 
keenness  the  sense  of  horrible  peril.  I  might  guess  by  the 
noise  of  the  surf  that  I  was  hanging  at  a  height  of  fifty  or 
sixty  feet,  and  if  I  wriggled — nay,  if  I  attempted  to  move,  I 
might  burst  through  the  frail  nest  of  bush  and  be  instantly 
killed  on  the  hard  beach  below. 

It  had  been  about  three  o'clock  when  we  landed  on  the 
island;  it  was  now  night  and  the  moon  shining.  How  long  had 
I  hung  insensible  ?  My  head  ached  cruelly.  I  imagined  I 
had  struck  some  knob  of  cliff,  and  that  I  should  find  my  hair 
hard  with  blood  dared  I  wrestle  to  clear  my  arm. 

I  lay  in  a  strange  posture,  doubled  up  ;  I  had  struck  the 
bush  sitting  fashion,  and  the  squeeze  of  the  twigs  and  boughs 


THE   SALVAGES.  61 

brought  my  knees  close  to  my  face.  It  was  hopeless  to  think 
of  attempting  to  release  myself  till  daylight.  I  did  not  recol- 
lect the  character  of  the  front  of  the  cliff  beneath  me,  and 
could  do  no  more  than  pray  with  the  utmost  fervor  that  I 
should  be  able  to  descend  it. 

The  prospect  of  dawn  disclosing  a  sheer  wall  to  the  wash 
of  the  surf  made  that  time  of  waiting  horrible.  Impatience 
to  know  my  fate  rose  into  torture.  The  moonshine  burnt  in 
little  stars  among  the  leaves  ;  I  guessed  by  the  altitude  of  the 
planet  that  it  might  be  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
I  believe  I  was  right  when  I  recall  the  length  of  time  that 
passed  after  I  awoke  to  consciousness  before  the  green  of  the 
dawn  showed  in  the  sky.  In  those  dreadful  hours  of  waiting 
for  sunlight  I  thought  over  the  murderous  ruse  which  had 
betrayed  me  into  the  island  for  this.  It  was  very  plain  now 
that  Fletcher  and  Cadman  knew  I  had  overheard  their  con- 
versation. How  would  the  villain  account  for  me  ?  I  might 
be  sure  he  had  gone  down  to  the  boat  with  a  made-up  face  of 
horror  and  sworn  I  had  fallen  over  the  cliff.  They'd  not  stop 
to  look  for  me,  if  only  because  the  two  seamen  would  know 
they  could  do  nothing  with  the  leaky  old  jolly-boat  in  the 
heavy  swell  that  beat  where  I  had  fallen.  Had  Fletcher  seen 
me  disappear  in  this  bush  ?  Anyway  he'd  consider  me  as 
good  as  dead,  and  carry  that  notion  on  board  the  brig  to  his 
hellish  colleague.  I  had  their  secret  and  so  was  to  be  made 
away  with  !  As  God's  my  hope  I  had  never  thought  it  of 
them. 

Dawn  broke  at  last  after  such  an  eternity  of  mental  and 
physical  anguish  as  there  is  no  magic  in  this  poor  pen  to 
express.  The  light  grew  quickly,  and  now  I  was  able  to 
think  and  perhaps  act.  I  found  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  dense 
mass  of  bush.  My  weight  had  carried  me  almost  sheer 
through  it  ;  I  judged  there  was  not  above  the  thickness  of  a 
foot  betwixt  me  and  the  open.  The  plunge  of  my  body  had 
rent  the  topmost  part  into  a  sort  of  tunnel,  but  the  surface 
stuff  had  come  together,  and  I  saw  nothing. 

My  first  business  was  to  make  sure  I  had  strength  enough 
to  hold  on  with,  next  that  the  growth  was  strong  enough  to 
support  me  if  I  should  require  to  hang  by  it.  My  tests  satis- 
fied me  ;  taking  a  firm  grip  of  a  heap  of  the  withe-like 
branches  and  twigs,  I  straightened  my  legs  and  made  a  hole 
through  the  stuff  with  one  foot.  I  was  now  able  to  see,  and 
sailor  as  I  was,  used  to  reeling  spars  and  to  holding  on  with 
my  eyelids,  I  confess  my  brain  spun  in  my  aching  skull  when 
I  looked.  A  sixty  foot  height  of  wall-like  cliff  is  no  very 


62  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

terrible  thing  to  gaze  up  at,  but  peer  down  over  the  edge  of  it ! 
The  surf  was  rolling  in  big  masses  of  snow  at  the  bottom  ;  I 
could  just  see  through  the  opening  a  small  expanse  of  the 
sheet-calm  ocean  flowing  like  blue  oil  full  of  light  to  the  very 
curve  of  the  foaming  breaker. 

But  I  had  not  been  staring  long,  with  my  heart  beating  hard 
in  my  ears  and  imagination  working  like  a  madness  in  me  in 
its  struggles  to  figure  schemes  of  release,  when  I  took  notice 
of  a  growth  like  to  that  in  which  I  lay  nested  about  thirty 
feet  down,  and  in  a  straight  line.  The  face  of  the  cliff 
between  was  smooth  and  sheer,  but  just  past  that  lower  heap 
of  bush  it  stood  broken  in  projections.  If  I  could  manage 
to  drop  upon  one  of  those  rocky  ledges  I  should  be  able  to 
crawl  round  to  where  the  island  fell  into  a  gradual  slope, 
easily  climbed.  But  how  was  I  to  fall  thirty  feet  without 
dashing  out  my  brains  and  bounding  on  to  the  full  distance  of 
sixty,  vanishing  in  the  surf  a  mangled  corpse,  to  be  torn  to 
shreds  in  an  hour  or  two  by  the  wild  play  there? 

As  I  thus  reflected  it  occurred  to  me  to  drop  out  of  the  bush 
in  which  I  lay  into  the  stuff  on  a  line  below.  It  was  my  one 
chance.  There  were  thirty  or  forty  feet  of  unclimbable  rock 
above  me  ;  therefore  I  had  to  determine  either  to  take  my 
chance  of  dropping  into  the  lower  bush  or  missing  it,  or 
remain  where  I  was  and  miserably  perish. 

I  durst  not  consider ;  deliberation  might  prove  fatal  by  hin- 
dering me  ;  carefully  taking  the  bearings  of  the  sponge-like 
mass,  I  wriggled  and  worked  downward,  holding  the  long 
twigs  and  stuff  with  the  grip  of  a  drowning  man.  In  five  or 
six  minutes — the  time  ran  into  //////,  for  this  job  of  extrication 
was  horribly  difficult  and  dangerous — I  was  hanging  clear,  but 
scarcely  was  I  thus  poised,  asking  God  to  direct  my  fall,  with 
the  thunder  of  the  surf  sounding  with  startling  louclness  now 
that  my  ears  were  clear,  when  the  stuff  I  grasped  gave  way, 
and  down  I  went  like  a  lightning  stroke,  plunging  sheer  into 
the  very  heart  of  the  growth. 

I  kept  my  senses,  but  I  believed  that  my  eyes  had  been  torn 
out  of  my  head,  and  the  skin  off  my  face,  and  that  I  had  lost 
my  ears,  so  lacerating  was  that  plunge,  so  crunching  and  rend- 
ing the  shock.  I  rested  motionless  to  breathe,  in  the  posture 
in  which  I  had  arrived,  straight  up  and  down,  feet  first.  The 
growth  here  was  stronger  than  that  above,  the  twigs  thicker  ; 
this  hanging  tract  of  vegetation  was  about  twice  the  size  of 
the  other.  Where  the  roots  found  soil  and  whence  they  drew 
nutriment  I  don't  know  ;  the  cliff  seemed  all  hard  rock,  but 
in  this  I  was  doubtless  mistaken. 


THE  BARILLA    CUTTER.  63 

I  now  considered  myself  comparatively  safe  ;  my  heart  beat 
full  of  rejoicing,  and  my  old  strength  came  back  to  me.  I 
tried  my  eyes  and  found  all  right  with  them,  then  with  some 
difficulty  felt  my  face  and  ears  and  brought  my  hands  away 
smeared  with  blood  ;  but  I  suspected  that  my  wounds  were 
neither  deep  nor  serious.  I  had  come  ashore  in  a  camlet 
jacket  and  a  sailor's  check  shirt  ;  these  garments  hung  in  rags 
upon  me,  and  my  white  drill  trousers  were  covered  with 
blood. 

When  I  had  thoroughly  taken  breath  and  rested  I  exerted 
my  whole  strength  to  make  an  opening  in  the  interlacery  of 
green  stuff  facing  that  part  of  the  rocks  I  desired  to  gain,  and 
judge  of  my  delight  on  perceiving  a  wide  ledge  within  an  easy 
drop,  and  other  ledges  trending  away  in  a  broken  front  round 
to  where  the  hill  shelved  gradually.  Using  all  my  force,  I 
broke  my  way  through  the  twigs  and  branches,  leaving  the 
remains  of  my  jacket  and  a  goodly  portion  of  my  shirt  behind 
me.  Then,  letting  myself  down,  I  dropped  cleverly  on  to  the 
ledge  that  was  about  four  feet  under  foot  as  I  hung. 

In  another  quarter  of  an  hour  I  had  crawled  to  where  the 
slope  began. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE    BARILLA    CUTTER. 

SOME  scarlet,  thunder-swollen  clouds  were  hanging  low  in 
the  north,  and  the  oil-like  surface  lay  bronzed  under  them  ; 
otherwise  the  sky  was  as  clear  as  glass  from  line  to  line.  I 
tore  the  sleeve  off  my  shirt  to  make  a  cover  for  my  head  ;  my 
clothing  now  consisted  of  little  more  than  my  vest  and  trou- 
sers, but  these  sufficed.  Man  wants  but  little  in  the  shape  of 
apparel  down  the  Salvages  way. 

I  looked  up  at  the  height  over  which  I  had  been  thrust,  and 
my  heart  turned  hot  with  rage.  Would  it  ever  be  in  my  power 
to  punish  the  treacherous  scoundrel  ?  How  sly  and  deliberate 
the  dog  had  been,  feigning  to  admire  the  view,  then  courting 
me  to  the  brink — O  Heaven,  I  could  not  have  used  a  rat  so  ! 
I  guessed  that  my  face  was  looking  black  with  blood  while  I 
sat  with  my  fists  clenched  thinking  of  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol. 

When  I  was  rested  I  climbed  up  the  slope  and  easily  reached 
the  top  of  the  island.  I  walked  to  the  place  where  Fletcher 
had  thrust  me  over,  and  looked  for  the  shovel  I  then  held,  and 
not  finding  it,  concluded  that  it  had  been  hurled  into  the  sea 
when  I  fell.  My  deep,  imperative  need  now  was  fresh  water, 


64  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

and  I  spent  till  noon  in  hunting,  thinking  of  nothing  else, 
spitting  the  white  froth  from  my  lips  as  I  walked,  and  feeling 
nearly  suffocated.  At  about  midday,  as  I  guessed  the  hour 
was  by  the  sun,  having  descended  a  spur  of  hill  in  the  north- 
east point  of  the  island,  I  caught  the  sweet  music  of  the 
bubbling  of  a  brook,  and  in  a  minute  later  I  was  kneeling 
beside  a  little  crystal  spring  gushing  from  under  a  rock,  and 
chattering  along  in  a  channel  of  its  own  through  obscuring 
tracts  of  barilla  to  the  margin  of  the  cliff,  where  it  spread  and 
disappeared.  I  drank  deeply,  and  then  collecting  the  water 
in  the  hollow  of  my  hands  I  repeatedly  bathed  my  face  and 
head. 

Now  being  deliciously  refreshed,  my  thirst  gone,  my  face 
and  head  cool,  the  pleasant  chill  of  snow  sinking  into  my  very 
marrow  out  of  the  icy  coldness  of  that  water  in  my  hands,  I 
felt  hungry  and  looked  about  me  somewhat  desperately.  Rab- 
bits in  plenty  were  frisking  shadowily  among  the  vegetation, 
and  big  sea  birds  were  to  be  had  at  the  cost  of  knocking  them 
over.  But  I  was  not  yet  so  sharp  set  as  to  eat  raw  things, 
and  how  to  get  fire  ?  I  plunged  my  hands  into  my  breeches 
pockets  in  a  fit  of  musing  and  pulled  out  a  little  burning  glass 
which  I  carried  for  lighting  my  pipe  by  the  sun,  fire  being  as 
scarce  as  news  on  board  ship,  where  the  lucifer  match  is  rarely 
found,  and  where  the  galley  furnace  is  not  always  at  your 
service. 

While  I  held  the  burning  glass,  looking  about  me  for  stuff 
that  would  burn,  I  spied  a  rabbit  within  a  dozen  feet ;  I 
stooped  very  warily,  picked  up  a  large  piece  of  stone  or  rock, 
and  took  aim  with  so  much  dexterity  that  I  knocked  the  poor 
brute  over.  It  was  alive  when  I  picked  it  up,  so  I  cut  his 
throat  with  my  little  penknife  and  skinned  it. 

While  I  was  at  this  dirty  work  I  looked  round  the  sea  ; 
nothing  was  in  sight.  Indeed  nothing,  if  it  were  not  steam, 
was  to  be  expected.  The  calm  was  profound.  The  silence  of 
the  now  blazing  day  lay  in  a  fiery  hush  upon  the  ocean  ;  the 
bronzed  and  thunderous  stuff  in  the  north  was  gone,  and  the 
blinding  white  dazzle  about  the  sun  sloped  with  a  coloring  of 
azure  in  its  silver  to  the  light  tropic  blue  over  the  horizon,  the 
whole  cloudless. 

I  found  plenty  of  dry  stuff  among  rotten  parts  of  the  salt- 
wort tracts,  and  easily  kindled  a  fire,  leaving  a  hollow  in  the 
ring  of  flame  for  my  rabbit  to  bake  in.  It  was  but  a  red  and 
black  repast,  that — a  nasty  cannibal  compound  of  cinders  and 
gushing  flesh,  yet  it  made  me  a  meal  and  satisfied  my  crav- 
ings. Enough  was  left  to  serve  me  for  a  supper  by  and  by, 


THE  BARILLA    CUTTER.  65 

and  hiding  the  remains  near  the  spring  that  the  birds  might 
not  rob  me,  I  made  my  way  to  the  east  beach,  a  wide  tract  of 
sand  betwixt  two  horns  of  rock.  Here  I  found  shade  for  my 
aching  head,  and  I  sat  down  under  a  huge  oversheltering 
ledge  of  cliff  to  think  over  my  situation,  and  how  I  was  to 
escape  from  this  lonely  island. 

It  was  then  that  a  vision  of  Blathford  rose  before  me  ;  I  saw 
the  water  spouting  from  the  old  stone  dog's  head  ;  I  saw  the 
church  and  the  parsonage,  the  silent  trees,  and  the  long, 
fragrant  shadows  in  the  garden  at  sunset.  I  saw  Kate  Darn- 
ley  bending  over  a  flower  bed,  and  my  father  standing  at  the 
dark,  gleaming  window  of  the  parlor,  and  I  heard  my  mother 
calling  me.  Did  I  fall  asleep  and  dream  this  ? 

When  a  boy  I'd  think  there  could  be  no  happiness  to  equal 
the  being  alone  on  a  desolate  island  ;  I  was  now  in  that  bliss- 
ful state,  and  my  heart  sank  in  me  as  I  thought  of  it.  How 
was  I  to  get  away  ?  Was  this  spot  of  rock  ever  visited  ?  1 
tried  to  remember  what  I  had  read  about  it  in  an  admiralty 
dispatch  addressed  as  I  noiv  know  by  Admiral,  then  Captain 
Hercules  Robinson,  to  some  official  big-wig,  but  could  recol- 
lect no  more  than  that  the  island  abounded  in  cormorants  and 
rabbits,  which  I  found  true,  and  that  both  the  Great  and  the 
Little  Salvages  are  surrounded  by  perilous  shoals.  Ships 
might  sight  this  rock,  but  would  seldom  haul  in  close  enough 
east  or  west  of  it  to  distinguish  a  signal,  even  of  smoke.  I 
might  be  forced  to  spend  weeks  here,  and  then  be  found  mad 
— a  gaunt,  naked  specter,  all  beard  and  ribs,  like  that  frightful 
Peter  Serrano  in  the  old,  true  sea  story. 

This  imagination  sent  me  crazy  for  a  time,  and  I  started  up 
and  walked  about  in  a  state  of  distraction. 

It  was  smooth  water  here;  the  breakers  were  little  more  than 
big  ripples  rolling  with  summer  softness,  and  expiring  with  long 
seething  sounds  which  ran  like  heavy  sighs  betwixt  the  points. 
The  small  undulation  was  westerly.  The  swell  was  on  the 
other  side,  therefore,  and  the  dulled  roar  of  it  was  like  the 
thunder  of  an  engagement  between  line-of-battle  ships  miles 
away. 

I  calmed  myself  after  awhile,  for  I  was  young  in  those  days 
and  hope  had  a  strong  hold  of  my  soul.  I  have  had  a  narrow 
escape,  I  thought.  I  am  not  dead  yet.  I  must  keep  myself 
alive  and  pray  to  God  to  deliver  me.  To  occupy  my  mind  I  went 
to  work  to  collect  crabs  and  shellfish  for  eating,  and  soon  had 
store  enough  for  a  supper  that  would  be  better  than  a  nearly 
raw  rabbit.  Before  sundown  I  sought  a  sheltered  corner  for  a 
resting  place,  and  discovered  a  little  cave  in  the  rocks  about 


66  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ten  feet  deep,  far  above  high  water  mark.  But  there  was  noth- 
ing to  furnish  me  with  the  smallest  convenience,  though  I  had 
looked  narrowly  about  while  searching  for  shellfish  and  the 
like  :  not  a  fragment  of  wreck — not  a  stave  of  cask — nothing. 
So,  wanting  a  drinking  vessel,  I  invented  one  by  taking  the 
biggest  of  the  crabs  and  scooping  his  shell  clear  of  him.  With 
this  I  climbed  the  cliffs  for  a  drink.  I  don't  know  what  L 
should  have  done  without  my  penknife.  It  was  in  my  trou- 
sers pocket  by  rare  good  fortune,  brought  about  through  my 
emptying  my  waistcoat  pockets.  I  had  bought  it  for  a  shilling 
at  Bristol  and  still  have  it. 

I  drank  deeply  of  the  spring,  and  then  returned  to  the  beach, 
fearful  of  attempting  the  descent  after  sundown.  The  sun  set 
directly  abreast  of  the  bay,  and  never  before  had  I  beheld  such 
magnificence  of  light  in  the  sky.  The  heavens  were  a  uni- 
versal blaze  of  crimson  ;  the  smooth  sea  reflected  the  splendor 
and  added  fresh  glory  to  the  sublime  and  appalling  radiance  it 
mirrored.  Before  the  light  died  out  I  ate  a  small  quantity  of 
shellfish.  They  were  a  sort  of  limpet,  and  relished  like  oysters. 
Not  just  yet  could  I  bring  myself  to  eat  raw  crab,  and  now  the 
sun  was  gone  my  burning  glass  was  useless. 

The  sand  was  soft  and  dry  in  the  little  cave  I  had  chosen  as 
a  bedroom,  and  when  I  lay  down  I  immediately  fell  asleep.  A 
horrible  nightmare  awoke  me  :  the  vision  of  a  wrestle  for  life 
with  Fletcher  on  the  edge  of  a  cliff  as  high  as  the  Peak  of 
Teneriffe  !  I  started  up,  and  in  the  sheen  of  the  moonlight, 
which  hung  like  a  silver  veil  before  the  opening  of  the  cave,  I 
spied  the  sand  I  had  slept  on  alive  with  a  score  or  more 
of  crabs.  They  were  big  and  little,  and  some  were  land 
crabs,  I  think.  They  scuttled  away  when  I  got  up  and  dis- 
appeared. 

I  went  out  and  walked  about  the  beach  for  the  coolness  of 
the  night  and  to  look  about  me.  A  pleasant  wind  was  whis- 
tling over  the  sea,  which  was  shivering  in  a  wide  breast  of  flaked 
silver  under  the  bright  moon.  The  surf  poured  strongly  on 
the  sands,  though  the  wind  was  north  with  something  of  east 
in  it  and  this  side  sheltered  ;  from  the  eastern  board  the  boom 
of  the  breakers  came  along  in  notes  heavy  and  melancholy,  and 
they  were  solemn  with  the  power  of  the  deep.  Many  small  white 
clouds  scudded  across  the  stars  ;  the  life  of  a  six  knot  wind 
was  in  the  scene  of  moonlit  ocean,  and  more  briskness  still 
went  to  it  out  of  the  ivory  brilliance  of  the  rolling  lines  of  foam 
upon  the  sand.  I  stood  intently  staring  seaward,  thinking  to 
see  a  ship,  but  beholding  nothing,  I  went  back  to  my  cave,  from 
which  all  the  crabs  had  departed;  this  time,  however,  I  planted 


THE  BARILLA    CUTTER.  67 

my  back  against  the  rocks  and  slept  with  ray  head  bowed  upon 
my  folded  arms. 

I  was  awakened  by  a  sound  of  singing  ;  it  was  a  man's  voice, 
strong,  hearty,  and  coarse.  My  senses  came  to  me  with  the 
opening  of  my-eyes  ;  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  and  running  out  of 
the  cave  saw  a  man  walking  along  the  sands  toward  the  north- 
east point.  It  was  broad  daylight ;  the  sun  was  shining  behind 
the  island  ;  the  breeze  was  still  fresh,  and  the  ocean  streamed 
northward  in  little  seas,  flashing  with  the  light  of  the  foam 
they  melted  into. 

When  I  saw  the  man  I  shouted.  He  was  singing  so  loudly 
and  the  surf  was  so  noisy  besides  that  he  did  not  hear  me.  I 
shouted  again,  on  which  he  turned  with  astonishing  swiftness 
and  stood  still,  beholding  me  in  a  posture  of  wonder  and  fear, 
as  though  I  had  been  some  bleeding  corpse  on  end  in  the 
sand. 

He  was  an  extraordinary  figure  of  a  man,  dressed  in  a  blue 
cap,  a  red  shawl  round  his  throat,  a  dirty  white  shirt  over 
which  was  a  jacket  with  treble  rows  of  pearl  buttons  ;  his 
breeches  were  a  sort  of  dungaree,  very  tight,  cut  short  midway 
down  the  calves,  which  were  bandaged  as  though  wounded  ; 
he  was  shod  to  a  little  above  his  ankles  with  yellow  boots. 
Through  a  stout  belt  over  his  hips  were  thrust  on  one  side  a 
small  bright  hatchet,  on  the  other  a  long  dagger-hafted  knife, 
buried  in  a  leather  sheath  attached  to  the  belt.  His  face  was 
as  ugly  as  his  attire  was  queer  ;  his  complexion  as  yellow  as 
gold,  enriched  with  patches  like  verdigris  about  the  brow, 
cheeks,  and  nose  ;  his  eyes  were  deep-set,  and  he  squinted  most 
abominably.  His  nose  was  of  the  bigness  of  a  man's  little 
ringer,  and  after  descending  straight  it  started  at  the  extremity 
into  a  gouty  knob,  pierced  by  two  lifting  holes  full  of  hair ; 
under  this  strange  device  he  carried  an  enormous  mustache, 
coarse  as  a  horse's  tail,  mingling  on  the  cheeks  with  a  pair  of 
frill-shaped  whiskers  which,  wide  as  they  spread,  still  left 
exposed  his  huge  oyster  shells  of  ears. 

I  stared  at  this  amazing  figure  for  some  moments,  too  much 
astonished  by  his  appearance  to  speak.  He  now  approached 
me  slowly  ;  when  he  moved  I  called  out,  "  Do  you  speak  Eng- 
lish ? "  He  shook  his  head  with  frightful  energy  and  con- 
tinued to  approach  until  he  was  quite  close,  and  then  stood 
stock-still  again,  looking  at  me  from  head  to  foot.  Ugly  as  he 
was  I  seemed  then  to  find  in  his  face  as  reassuring  an  expres- 
sion of  kindness  and,  I  may  say,  tenderness  as  nature's  utmost 
effort  could  inform  such  features  with.  Nor,  indeed,  ought  I 
to  have  wondered  that  he  stared  at  me  ;  it  was  not  my  sudden 


68  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

apparition  only  ;  I  have  little  doubt  I  presented  a  dreadful 
shape  with  my  scratched  face,  head  bound  up  with  a  shirt 
sleeve,  bloody  trousers  and  vest,  to  which  you  may  add  a  few 
rags  of  shirt. 

He  addressed  me  in  thick  accents  in  a  language  utterly 
unintelligible ;  seeing  that  I  did  not  understand  him,  he 
touched  his  stomach  and  then  his  mouth,  and  made  a  show  of 
drinking,  all  with  his  poor  ugly  face  full  of  feeling  and  kind- 
ness. I  knew  what  he  meant,  and  nodded  my  head.  Indeed 
I  was  both  hungry  and  thirsty.  He  looked  at  me  from  top  to 
toe  again,  then  along  the  length  of  sand  as  though  for  some 
sign  of  a  wreck,  and  with  a  beckoning  gesture  of  his  chocolate- 
colored  hand,  hairy  as  Esau's,  he  led  the  way  up  the  craggy 
face  of  the  cliff. 

I  supposed  that  he  meant  to  conduct  me  to  the  spring  and 
point  to  the  rabbits  as  we  walked.  Instead  he  crossed  the 
island  to  the  exact  spot  where  Fletcher  and  I  had  arrived  on 
gaining  the  top  after  quitting  the  jolly-boat  ;  and  from  the 
height  of  the  gentle  acclivity,  looking  down,  I  perceived  in 
the  same  creek  in  which  the  jolly-boat  had  lain  a  large  two- 
masted  craft  of  about  fourteen  tons,  sharp  as  a  knife  at  the 
bow,  painted  white,  with  a  boy  on  his  knees  before  a  little 
stove  in  the  bottom  of  her,  whistling  loudly  while  he  plied 
a  pair  of  bellows.  All  in  silence,  merely  turning  his  head 
from  time  to  time  to  see  whether  I  followed,  the  ugly,  queerly 
appareled  man  led  the  way  to  the  water's  edge. 

The  boat  lay  with  her  nose  on  the  sand.  She  was  secured 
by  a  little  anchor  hooked  to  a  rock.  My  heart  leapt  at  the 
sight.  The  chimney  was  smoking  bravely,  the  tawny  boy 
was  staring  at  us  with  the  bellows  motionless  in  his  grasp,  as 
though  he  had  been  blasted  by  lightning.  The  water  was 
smooth  in  this  creek,  but  at  sea  the  foam-lined  ripples  were 
streaming  briskly.  A  length  of  red  bunting  attached  to  the 
tail  of  a  little  gilt  cock  flogged  merrily  at  the  mainmast  head. 
But  what  I  liked  most  was  the  smell  of  cooking. 

The  man  with  the  blue  cap  motioned  to  me  to  climb  over 
the  bow  into  the  boat.  I  did  so,  and  found  myself  aboard 
a  broad-beamed,  comfortable,  finely  lined,  very  seaworthy 
looking  craft,  with  a  short  forecastle  deck  and  white  sails 
neatly  stowed  upon  the  yards  along  the  thwarts.  The  boy, 
whose  dress  in  some  respects  resembled  the  man's,  and  who 
was  quite  as  ugly,  with  long,  greasy  black  hair  snaking  down 
his  back,  and  an  immense  mouth  full  of  huge  yellow  teeth, 
continued  to  stare  at  me  with  many  marks  of  alarm.  On  my 
getting  into  the  boat  he  dropped  his  bellows  and  made  the  sign 


THE   BARILLA    CUTTER.  69 

of  the  cross  upon  his  breast,  and  let  fly  a  yard  of  questions  in 
the  rapidest,  shrillest  voice  conceivable.  The  man  answered 
him.  Many  words  passed  between  them.  The  boy,  then 
keeping-  the  stove  between  him  and  me,  pronounced  the  word 
"  Anglish  ?  "  I  nodded.  "  You  Anglish  ?  "  he  exclaimed, 
again  in  the  note  of  a  scream. 

"  I  am  English,"  I  answered.  "  Do  you  speak  Eng- 
lish ? " 

"  Yash  ;  me  speak  Anglish,"  he  shrieked.  "  Who  you  ? 
How  you  here  ? " 

The  other  watched  me  intently,  his  fearful  squint  beaming 
with  the  soul  of  goodness,  while  the  boy  addressed  me. 
I  suspected  that  the  lad's  knowledge  of  English  would  not 
permit  him  to  understand  much  of  my  story,  so  I  said  I  had 
come  ashore  in  a  boat  from  a  ship,  and  that  in  approaching 
the  edge  of  the  cliff  I  had  fallen  over,  and  I  pointed  and 
dramatized  and  acted  the  short  yarn,  indicating  the  cliff,  then 
the  bushes,  then  making  as  though  I  fell,  then  touching  the 
bloodstains  upon  my  clothes,  and  so  on,  afterward  by  speech 
and  gesture  contriving  to  make  the  lad  understand  that  my 
people,  thinking  me  dead,  had  gone  away. 

Both  the  boy  and  the  man,  as  I  discoursed  and  dramatically 
swung  my  arms,  nodded  their  heads  with  a  like  impassioned, 
demonstrative  vehemence.  I  perceived  that  I  was  under- 
stood. Indeed  my  appearance  and  the  state  of  my  clothes 
told  a  very  full  story  when  the  first  hint  of  it  had  been  given. 
Nodding  again  and  again  with  his  hideous  squinting  counte- 
nance full  of  wild,  rough  sympathy,  the  man  entered  his  fore 
peak  and  immediately  crawled  out  with  a  tin  measure  and 
a  large  jar.  The  draught  was  half  a  pint  of  crude  Madeira 
wine.  I  made  him  understand  that  I  wished  for  water  to  mix 
it  with,  and  then  I  drank,  bowing  and  smiling,  first  to  him  and 
then  to  the  boy,  before  draining  the  measure. 

"  From  Madeira  ?"  said  I,  looking  expressively  at  the  lad 
and  then  at  the  boat. 

The  youth  nodded. 

"  Barilla?  "  said  I,  pointing  to  the  top  of  the  island. 

The  man  grunted  an  affirmative,  understanding  the  term. 

"  Portuguese  ?" 

They  bobbed  their  heads  with  immense  energy,  and  then,  a 
pause  happening,  the  boy  fell  to  whistling  with  piercing  clear- 
ness, while  he  kicked  the  bellows  away  with  a  yellow  naked  foot 
and  dropped  a  large  flat-fish  into  a  frying  pan  which  he  set 
upon  the  fire. 

I  was  able  to  appreciate  my  escape  now  that  I  might  con- 


70  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

sider  myself  delivered  from  the  dreadful  fate  of  imprisonment, 
and  madness  and  nakedness  I  had  terrified  my  heart  with  not 
long  before.  I  glanced  at  the  island,  at  the  height  of  cliff  over 
which  I  had  been  flung,  and  my  whole  being  was  swelled  with 
gratitude  when  I  thought  of  the  horrible  dangers  I  had  come 
safely  through. 

While  the  boy  fried  the  fish,  which,  seeing  some  fishing  lines 
in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  I  supposed  he  had  caught  since  sun- 
rise,  the  man  prepared  one  of  the  thwarts  for  breakfast  by  pro- 
ducing some  tin  plates  and  knives  and  forks,  a  loaf  of  bread, 
and  a  quantity  of  grapes.  He  also  set  the  jar  of  wine  under 
the  thwart.  When  the  fish  were  cooked  the  man  helped  me  to 
a  whole  one  and  a  thick  slice  of  bread,  and  gave  me  a  panni- 
kin of  wine  and  water.  I  looked  my  thanks,  and  held  him  by 
the  hand  and  bowed,  that  he  might  understand  my  gratitude. 
He  laughed  and  shook  his  head,  and  spoke  a  sentence  or  two 
in  Portuguese,  which  set  the  boy  grinning,  while  he  cried, 
"  Eat !  All  Anglish  good." 

1  never  made  a  meal  which  I  enjoyed  more  thoroughly,  nor 
swallowed  food  that  seemed  to  do  me  half  so  much  good.  The 
sun  was  not  yet  above  the  island,  and  the  boat  lay  in  the 
shadow  of  the  cliffs.  The  wind  gushed  freely  over  the  arm  of 
reef,  trembling  the  water  of  the  creek  into  diamonds,  and 
deliciously  cooling  the  shade  cast  by  the  island.  My  mind 
worked  nimbly  while  I  ate.  Would  this  worthy  Portuguese 
convey  me  to  Madeira  ?  I  did  not  doubt  it,  since  I  knew  he 
hailed  from  that  island.  And  what  should  I  do  when  I  got 
there  ?  I  was  rendered  as  miserable  a  beggar  by  Cadman's 
and  Fletcher's  murderous  conspiracy  as  the  dirtiest,  most 
grievously  stricken  wretch  that  whines  for  alms  on  Funchal 
beach.  All  my  clothes,  a  considerable  sum  in  money,  my 
nautical  instruments — property,  in  short,  which  I  could  not 
have  replaced  under  two  hundred  pounds,  apart  from  the 
sentimental  value  of  certain  keepsakes  and  choice  home 
gifts — were  in  my  chest  aboard  the  Hebe,  and  I  might  reckon 
upon  every  farthing's  worth  going  to  the  bottom.  Yes,  I  had 
no  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  the  villains  would  wreck  the  brig 
somewhere  off  the  Cape  Settlement  as  Cadman  had  proposed 
or  decided. 

Now  was  I  bitterly  vexed  that  I  had  not  communicated  with 
the  carpenter.  The  crew,  as  things  stood,  never  would  imagine 
I  had  been  foully  dealt  with.  Then,  again,  when  the  brig 
should  have  been  cast  away  they'd  never  know  she  was  delib- 
erately wrecked,  unless,  indeed,  Cadman's  method  of  going  to 
work  roused  suspicion.  All  these  things  ran  in  my  head  while 


BLADES  OF   THE   "CAROLINE."  71 

I  was  eating  the  grapes  and  fish  and  bread  with  the  Portuguese 
and  his  boy. 

I  endeavored  to  make  some  of  my  thoughts  understood  to 
them,  and  partly  succeeded  with  the  help  of  gestures  and  the 
boy's  small  knowledge  of  my  tongue.  The  man  nodded  when 
he  understood  I  wished  to  learn  if  he  would  convey  me  to 
Madeira.  I  also  gathered  that  he  was  likely  to  remain  at  this 
island  for  four  or  five  days,  and  that  if  meanwhile  a  ship  hove 
in  sight  and  he  could  get  at  her  he'd  put  me  aboard  if  I 
chose. 

To  this  I  assented  gratefully ;  it  was  all  one  to  me  whether 
I  was  landed  at  Madeira,  whence  I  supposed  the  British  consul 
would  send  me  to  England  as  a  distressed  seaman,  or  whether 
I  was  transferred  to  a  ship  making  for  another  port.  Indeed 
my  inclination  leaned  to  the  latter.  Being  stripped,  I  wanted 
clothes.  If  I  was  sent  home  I  must  burden  my  people  till  I 
got  employment.  I  had  found  it  hard  to  obtain  a  post,  I  might 
again  find  it  hard  ;  if  I  should  have  the  luck  to  procure  a 
mate's  berth  I'd  need  a  round  sum  to  equip  me.  My  father 
could  not  afford  a  penny.  It  must  come  to  my  having  to  sail 
before  the  mast.  Why  not,  then,  ship  down  here  in  these  seas, 
if  I  could  meet  with  a  vessel  willing  to  receive  me,  and  hold  on 
as  a  foremast  hand  until  on  my  return  home  there  would  be 
wages  enough  to  take  up  to  help  me  to  a  fresh  start? 

CHAPTER   XL 

BLADES   OF    THE    "CAROLINE." 

THE  Portuguese  and  his  son — as  I  guessed  the  lad  to  be  by 
his  face  (barring  the  squint)  looking  like  a  copy  of  the  other's 
reflected  in  the  back  of  a  polished  silver  spoon — the  two,  I  say, 
made  a  vast  meal,  the  elder  drinking  abundantly  of  the  wine. 

When  we  had  breakfasted  I  expressed  by  signs  and  speech 
my  willingness  to  assist  them  in  cutting  the  saltwort ;  the  man 
nodded  pleasantly,  and  muttered  a  thank  you  in  Portuguese, 
but  showed  no  disposition  to  leave  the  boat.  On  the  contrary, 
when  he  had  breakfasted  he  crawled  into  his  little  fore  peak  and 
brought  out  a  jar  of  tobacco  and  made  two  large  paper  cigars, 
one  of  which  he  handed  to  me.  Next,  after  looking  at  me  with 
attention,  he  again  crawled  into  his  little  forecastle  and  emerged 
with  a  large,  flapping,  well-worn  straw  hat,  which  he  put  upon 
my  head,  grinning  and  talking  in  his  native  tongue.  Then  he 
lighted  a  piece  of  wood  at  the  stove  and  gave  it  to  me  with  all 
the  grace  you  could  imagine  ;  he  afterward  seated  himself  in 


72  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

an  indolent  posture  with  his  back  against  the  mast  and  his 
feet  upon  a  thwart,  and  blew  a  cloud  with  great  relish  and 
enjoyment,  his  eyes  sometimes  lazily  fixed  on  me,  sometimes 
peering  through  half-closed  lids  at  the  rocks. 

His  son,  on  the  other  hand,  stripped  himself  and  jumped 
overboard,  and  after  wading  to  his  armpits  lay  afloat  on  his 
back  buoyant  as  a  cork.  All  this  was  true  Portuguese  fashion — 
genuine  Dago  style,  and  characteristic  of  a  race  by  whom  a 
turn  round  the  longboat  and  a  pull  at  the  scuttle  butt  is 
reckoned  a  good  day's  work. 

I  judged  that  if  they  meant  to  load  barilla  at  this  rate  they'd 
need  all  the  four  or  five  days  the  man  had  talked  of,  though  a 
couple  of  English  would  have  been  away,  loaded  to  the  wash 
streak,  and  the  island  perhaps  out  of  sight  in  the  south  by 
sundown. 

I  was  too  anxious  and  troubled  in  my  mind  to  sit  and  smoke, 
and  twice  climbed  the  slope  to  view  the  sea  before  the  Portu- 
guese seemed  ready  to  turn  to.  Nothing  was  in  sight.  On 
my  return  from  the  second  visit  to  the  top  the  Portuguese 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  the  energy  of  sudden  fury,  and  roared 
out  to  his  son,  who  was  cutting  capers  in  the  sea  some  distance 
beyond  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  boy  came  swimming 
alongside  as  though  driven  by  steam,  jumped  into  the  bows, 
and  dressed  himself  streaming  wet.  The  Portuguese  then 
pointing  to  his  chopper,  which  lay  on  a  thwart,  signed  to  know 
if  I  would  accompany  him  ;  I  nodded  eagerly,  being  wishful 
indeed  to  make  the  best  return  in  my  power  for  his  humanity, 
and  Christian,  merciful  treatment  of  me.  Upon  this  he  fetched 
a  couple  of  sacks  and  a  second  chopper  out  of  the  fore  peak, 
and  after  speaking  to  his  son  a  while  he  put  that  chopper  and 
a  sack  into  my  hands,  and  leaping  on  to  the  sand  invited  me 
with  a  motion  of  his  head  to  follow. 

We  gained  the  top  and  went  to  work  to  cut  barilla.  I  had 
supposed  we  should  speedily  crowd  the  two  sacks,  but  I  soon 
found  that  the  Portuguese  was  exceedingly  choice  in  his 
selection  of  the  plant,  so  that  after  three  hours,  not  so  much 
of  toil  as  of  careful  search  and  judicious  cutting,  we  had 
scarcely  filled  each  man  the  half  of  his  own  bag.  At  this  rate 
the  job  of  loading  the  boat  was  likely  to  last  us  a  week  instead 
of  four  days,  nor  would  it  need  many  paper  cigars  and  indo- 
lent after-breakfast  musings  to  run  that  week  into  a  fortnight. 

The  man  killed  a  couple  of  rabbits  and  flung  them  down 
the  slope  for  the  boy  to  fetch.  When  we  returned,  somewhere 
about  one  as  I  guessed  by  the  sun,  those  rabbits  were  seething 
in  a  saucepan  full  of  broth,  on  which,  and  some  fish,  grapes, 


BLADES  OF    THE   "  CAROLINE."  73 

.bread,  and  Madeira  wine,  we  dined  magnificently.  In  the 
afternoon  we  went  again  for  more  barilla,  and  spent  two  hours 
in  cutting  the  plant. 

After  supper  I  sat  in  the  boat  smoking  a  paper  cigar,  and 
endeavoring  to  converse  with  the  Portuguese  with  the  help  of 
his  boy.  It  was  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  sun 
was  out  of  sight  behind  the  island,  but  he  was  yet  many 
degrees  above  the  horizon,  and  his  light  flashed  out  the  whole 
scene  of  ocean  in  the  south  and  east  till  even  from  the  low 
level  of  the  boat's  gunwale  the  horizon  there  looked  seventy 
miles  distant.  The  breeze  had  died  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
and  all  had  been  breathless  calm  and  roasting  heat  till  about 
five,  when  a  little  air  of  wind  sprang  up  out  of  the  northeast  ; 
the  brushing  of  it  darkened  the  blue,  but  there  was  no  weight 
in  that  draught  to  make  the  foam  spit. 

The  creek  in  which  the  boat  floated  lay  open  to  the  south  ; 
a  good  stretch  of  water  in  the  east  was  likewise  visible  to  us  ; 
westward  the  view  was  blocked  by  the  fall  of  the  land  to  an 
arm  of  reef  which  ran  about  two  cables'  lengths  into  the  sea. 
The  silence  upon  the  island  was  broken  only  by  the  noises  of 
the  sea  fowl  flying  over  our  heads,  and  by  the  rolling  roar  of 
the  surf  along  the  west  side. 

I  was  gradually  making  out  through  the  broken,  stammer- 
ing, scarcely  intelligible  English  of  the  boy,  and  the  dramatic 
gestures  and  grotesque  grimaces  of  the  man,  that  this  Great 
Salvage  rock  was  visited  at  long  intervals  only  by  the  Madeira 
cutters  of  barilla,  so  that  I  was  particularly  to  witness  the 
hand  of  God  in  the  coming  of  this  boat  a  few  hours  after  my 
own  murderous  betrayal  into  this  scene  of  desolation,  when, 
my  eye  then  resting  on  the  horizon  in  the  southeast,  I  spied  a 
ship's  canvas  glowing  like  yellow  satin,  or  rather  like  a  large 
orange-hued  star  that  enlarges  as  it  soars. 

I  started  up  to  gaze  from  the  elevation  of  the  thwart.  The 
Portuguese  looked  too,  and  the  boy,  pointing,  cried  out  : 
"  Ship  !  Ship  !  " 

The  wind  was  scanty  and  the  vessel's  progress  so  slow  that  I 
could  not  guess  which  way  she  was  headed  ;  so  to  help  my  vi- 
sion I  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  island,  and  there  I  saw  her  plain 
enough,  perhaps  down  to  her  hull,  though  the  water  she  floated 
on  was  as  far  off  as  the  horizon  itself.  I  yearned  for  a  tele- 
scope to  determine  her  by  ;  if  she  was  steering  our  way  the 
Portuguese  might  be  willing  to  put  me  aboard.  I  cared  not 
what  her  nationality  should  prove.  I  was  heartsick  of  this 
island,  and  my  very  spirits  shrunk  from  the  prospect  of  cutting 
saltwort  on  the  scorching  top  of  the  land  for  perhaps  another 


74  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

week,  and  then  of  my  arriving  at  Madeira  in  rags,  to  be  sent 
home  as  a  beggar,  and  stepping  ashore  in  the  Thames  or  an 
out  port  without  a  cent  in  my  pocket  or  a  coat  on  my  back. 

I  went  down  to  the  boat  again  and  got  the  Portuguese  to 
understand  that  I'd  be  thankful  if  he'd  put  me  aboard  that 
vessel  if  she  was  hauling  in  this  way.  He  answered  through 
'his  son  and  in  his  own  fashion  that  he  would  stand  out  to  her 
if  she  grew,  on  which  I  grasped  him  by  the  hand,  and  first 
pointing  to  the  island,  then  to  my  clothes,  then  significantly 
pulling  my  empty  right-hand  breeches  pocket  inside  out, 
I  made  him  perceive  how  acutely  I  felt  my  situation.  He 
talked  quickly  to  his  son,  often  turning  looks  of  sympathy 
and  pity  upon  me. 

Presently  the  boy  ran  up  the  slope  to  the  top  of  the  land 
with  the  ease  of  a  goat,  and  after  viewing  the  distant 
sail  betwixt  his  dark  hands  shouted.  The  father  fetched  his 
breast  a  thump  in  token  of  satisfaction,  and  made  a  gesture 
with  a  sweep  of  his  thumb  from  the  ship  to  the  island.  So 
she  was  heading  our  way  if  the  boy's  eyes  did  not  deceive 
him  !  and  again  I  sprang  on  to  a  thwart  to  look  at  her.  Yes, 
her  motion  could  no  longer  be  mistaken  ;  she  was  on  the  star- 
board tack  crawling  on  a  taut  bowline  into  the  north  and 
west,  clearly  outward  bound  and  waiting  for  this  island  to  get 
large  before  putting  her  helm  down. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock  ;  I  judged  of  my  time  by  the 
passing  of  the  sun,  and  would  have  bet  upon  it  within  ten 
minutes.  The  sky  was  wild  with  crimson  overhead,  and  in 
the  east  the  glory  of  the  west  was  "  reverberated,"  to  use 
Shelley's  expression,  by  a  terrace  of  bright  yellow  cloud  whose 
effulgence  filled  the  water  under  it  with  a  hot  brassy  luster, 
while  a  glory  of  its  own  sifted  upward  toward  the  scarlet  of 
the  sunset. 

The  Portuguese  went  into  the  stern  sheets  of  his  boat  and 
stared  at  the  distant  sail,  then  slowly  looking  about  him  and 
above  as  though  taking  measure  of  his  chances  of  fetching 
her,  he  shouted  to  his  son,  who  was  still  on  top  of  the  land. 
The  boy  came  running  down.  The  father  roared  out  again, 
whereupon  the  lad  lifted  the  little  anchor  off  the  rock  it  was 
hooked  to  and  brought  it  on  his  shoulder  into  the  bow  of  the 
boat.  Both  got  out  and  shoved  the  boat's  nose  off,  jumping 
in  as  she  floated.  In  a  few  minutes  they  had  an  oar  over  ; 
then  loosing  the  neatly  stowed  sails,  they  manned  the  halyards 
and  mastheaded  the  long  lateen-like  yards. 

No  sooner  was  the  boat  clear  of  the  land  than,  catching  the 
soft  warm  breathing  of  air  in  her  canvas,  she  slightly  leaned 


BLADES  OF   THE   "  CAROLINE,"  75 

and  drove  over  the  calm  blue  water,  shredding  it  as  a  plow- 
share shears  through  soil,  with  two  soft  feather-white  lines  of 
foam  in  her  wake.  It  was  the  most  exquisite  sensation  of 
swift  and  buoyant  sailing  I  had  ever  experienced.  Her  hull 
was  white,  and  her  spacious  wings  were  cotton  white,  and  she 
must  have  looked  to  the  ship  as  we  went  toward  her  like 
a  star-like  gyration  of  wind-whipped  froth. 

The  vessel  was  about  seven  miles  distant  from  us  when  we 
started.  She  was  heading  our  way,  and  we  were  skimming 
over  it  at  five  or  six,  so  that  it  was  not  long  before  we  had  lifted 
her  into  determinable  proportions,  and  there  floated  right 
ahead  of  us,  stiff  as  a  church  under  the  light  breeze,  a  black 
bark  of  some  four  hundred  tons  with  a  stump  fore  topgal- 
lant mast  and  a  white  boat  dangling  at  her  starboard  davits. 
She  made  a  fine  cloud-like  picture,  all  her  canvas  swollen  and 
stirless,  and  the  red  light  in  the  west  dying  out  upon  her  top- 
most sails,  which  showed  like  bronze  shields  against  the  dark 
blue  beyond  her. 

Over  the  terrace  of  clouds  in  the  east  the  blue  lightnings 
were  running  in  wire-like  rills;  the  island  stood  sharp,  hard, 
and  dark  against  the  color  in  the  west.  It  had  drawn  around 
somewhat  dark,  with  a  deal  of  cloudy  fire  in  the  water,  before 
we  were  within  hail  of  the  bark  ;  the  lunar  dawn  was  grow- 
ing green  astern  of  the  ship,  and  the  stars  sparkled  overhead. 
The  Portuguese  put  his  helm  down,  the  boy  let  go  the  main 
halyards,  and  the  little  white  clipper  hung  without  way  in 
the  direct  course  of  the  bark.  Taking  my  chance  of  the 
vessel's  nationality,  I  bawled  with  powerful  lungs  through  my 
telescoped  hands,  "  Ho,  the  bark  ahoy  !  " 

Greatly  to  my  delight  the  familiar  English  echo  "  Hollo!  " 
came  back. 

"  I'm  an  English  seaman  who  has  been  cast  away  on  the 
Great  Salvage  yonder.  Will  you  take  me  on  board  ?'' 

"  Douse  your  foresail  and  look  out  for  the  end  of  a  line," 
was  the  reply. 

I  let  go  the  fore  halyards  ;  it  was  too  dark  for  gesticulations 
to  serve  ;  the  Portuguese  grunted  aloud  in  his  native  tongue, 
but  in  a  tone  that  was  like  telling  me  I  had  done  right.  The 
bark  now  loomed  big  close  aboard  us,  and  all  was  hushed 
for  some  moments  save  the  rippling  of  the  water  at  her  bow. 
The  stars  winked  amid  her  rigging  and  along  her  yards  ;  the 
risen  moon  was  now  shedding  some  light,  by  which  I  dis- 
tinguished a  group  of  figures  leaning  over  the  forecastle  rail, 
and  a  man  sitting  on  the  port  poop  rail  holding  on  to  a  stay, 
and  leaning  backward  over  the  water  to  view  us. 


76  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Look  out  for  this  line,"  shouted  a  voice  from  the  forecastle 
head,  and  plump  came  some  forty  pound  weight  of  fakes  into 
the  middle  of  the  boat.  The  boy  took  a  turn,  but  it  had  never 
been  my  intention  to  parley  alongside.  I  was  most  devour- 
ingly in  earnest  to  board  that  bark  and  sail  away  in  her 
anyhow  and  anywhere  ;  so,  springing  aft,  I  grasped  the  hairy 
paw  of  the  Portuguese,  motioning  to  the  main  chains,  and 
gently  obliging  him  to  sheer  the  boat;  then  wringing  his  hand  in 
a  very  passion  of  gratitude,  and  hitting  the  boy  a  friendly  blow 
of  farewell  on  the  back,  I  sprung  into  the  bark's  chains,  and 
as  I  climbed  over  the  rail  I  saw  the  boy  free  the  boat,  while 
the  Portuguese  sprawled  forward  to  masthead  the  foresail. 

"  By  'Esus,  dot  vhas  a  cool  handt  !  Did  he  know  dot  her 
boat  vhas  all  gone?  "called  some  heavy  Dutch  voice  out  of 
the  shadowy  group  of  seamen  in  the  bows. 

I  stood  a  moment  after  gaining  the  deck  to  look  along 
it.  The  gloom  of  the  night  was  betwixt  the  vessel's  rails, 
but  some  ruddy  gleams  darting  like  wheel  spokes  through  the 
galley  door  touched  the  coils  of  rigging  and  bulwarks  abreast; 
there  was  a  hazy  sheen  of  radiance  aft  round  about  the 
skylight.  By  the  small,  delicate  moonlight  now  flowing  I 
made  this  bark  out  to  be  a  lump  of  a  square-bowed  wagon, 
with  a  crowded  look  about  her  decks,  owing  to  her  galley, 
longboat,  pumps,  mainmast,  and  foremast  all  seeming  to  come 
together  in  a  sort  of  murky  huddle,  as  though  everything  was 
too  big.  I  saw  the  figure  of  a  man  aft.  It  was  he  who  had 
leaned  backward  looking  at  us.  He  was  advancing  as  I 
approached  him. 

"  What  d'ye  want  aboard  here  ?  "  said  he.  "  Hail  your  boat 
and  keep  her  alongside  till  I  hear  your  story,  anyhow." 

"They're  Portuguese  and  won't  understand  us  unless  we 
talk  in  their  tongue,  which  I,  for  one,  don't  know,"  I  answered. 

The  man  seemed  struck  by  my  speech  and  manner.  We 
were  near  the  skylight,  within  the  sphere  of  the  sheen  of  it, 
and  I  saw  his  eyes  travel  over  me. 

"  What  are  you  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Am  I  talking  to  the  master  of  this  ship  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  I  was  mate  of  the  brig  Hebe  of  Bristol.  One  day  I  over- 
heard her  owner  and  the  captain  arranging  to  cast  her  away, 
one  choosing  that  rock,"  said  I,  pointing  to  the  island,  "and 
the  other  the  coast  near  Agulhas.  They  were  in  their  cabin  ; 
as  I  came  out  of  mine  the  owner  met  me  face  to  face,  turned 
white  as  these  bloody  breeches  upon  me,  but  said  nothing, 
and  I  guessed  by  the  behavior  of  both  men  that  neither  sus- 


BLADES  OF   THE   "CAROLINE."  77 

pected  I  had  overheard  them.  I  vow  to  God  that  the  day  before 
yesterday  the  owner  of  the  brig  took  me  ashore  on  that  island 
under  the  pretense  of  seeking  a  spring  for  his  water  casks. 
He  coaxed  me  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff  and  threw  me  over — 
the  villain!  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol — that's  his  name.  Jonas 
Cadman  is  the  Hebe's  master.  They  sailed  away,  leaving  me 
murdered,  as  they  thought.  They've  got  all  that  I  possess  in 
the  world  aboard,  and  the  dogs  '11  wreck  the  brig  yet,  and 
maybe  drown  the  crew,  mark  me." 

My  companion  listened  with  motionless  attention. 

"Fletcher  of  Bristol,"  said  he.  "He's  owned  some  small 
craft  besides  this  Hebe,  hasn't  he  ? " 

"  I  dare  say.  I  know  nothing  of  the  devil's  history."  And 
now,  moving  a  step  to  get  a  better  view  of  this  man,  and 
advancing  my  head  to  inspect  him  closely,  I  said,  "  Pardon 
me — is  your  name  Blades  ? " 

"  Yes,"  he  answered. 

"  William  Blades,  who  was  formerly  third  mate  of  the  New- 
castle ?  " 

"That's  right." 

"  I  made  my  second  voyage  as  an  apprentice  in  that  vessel. 
You  and  I  were  not  only  shipmates,  but  messmates." 

"  Is  it  Charles  Morgan  ? "  said  he. 

"To  the  very  rags  of  him." 

"  Well,  begummers  ! "  said  Captain  Blades,  and  shook  my 
hand.  He  was  stepping  to  the  companionway,  as  though 
meaning  I  should  follow  him  below ;  then  halted,  and 
exclaimed,  looking  in  the  direction  of  the  boat,  that  was  now 
fast  blending  with  the  gloom,  though  she  yet  shone  dimly  in 
her  whiteness  like  the  weak  reflection  of  a  large  pale  star,  "  I 
shall  be  carrying  you  away  round  the  Horn  if  you  stop  aboard. 
I  am  bound  direct  to  Callao.  Madeira  isn't  far  off,  and  that 
boat  would  land  you  there,  wouldn't  she  ?" 

I  answered  briefly  that  I  wished  to  remain  with  him  ;  having 
lost  all  I  did  not  mean  to  go  home  till  I  had  earned  money  to 
take  up  ;  I  was  willing  to  serve  him  in  any  capacity,  forward 
or  aft. 

"  By  the  great  anchor,  then,"  said  he,  "  you  may  turn  out  a 
Godsend,  after  all.  Stay  here.  We'll  yarn  presently."  He 
then  roared  out,  "  Mr.  Brace,  ready  about !  " 

"  Ready  about !  "  was  echoed  by  some  figure  stalking  in  the 
gangway,  and  the  whistle  of  a  boatswain's  pipe  rang  shrill 
through  the  vessel,  followed  by  a  bull-like  roar  of  "All  hands 
about  ship."  It  delighted  me  to  hear  the  music  of  that  pipe 
aboard  a  bark  of  four  hundred  tons,  but  in  those  days  the 


78  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

traditions  of  the  sea  were  clung  to  with  a  tenacity  which  iron 
and  steam  have  surprisingly  relaxed.  In  a  few  moments  the 
dark  decks  were  full  of  life  and  hurry  ;  the  shapes  of  the  sea- 
men, scarcely  distinguishable  in  the  gloom,  took  their  stations. 

"  Helm's  a-lee  !  "  bawled  the  captain. 

"  Helm's  a-lee  !  "  was  re-echoed  from  the  forecastle. 

Then  rang  the  several  orders  of  "  Raise  tacks  and  sheets — 
main  topsail  haul — let  go  and  haul,"  and  so  on.  The  black 
block  of  island  swang  along  on  to  our  port  quarter.  The 
whole  life  of  the  ocean  was  in  the  hoarse  strange  cries  of  the 
men,  and  in  the  shouts  of  the  captain  and  Mr.  Brace. 

"Well  the  fore  topsail  yard — small  pull  the  main  t'gallant 
yard — royal  yard  too  much — well  all!  " 

Presently  the  ship  was  soberly  dribbling  through  it  on  the 
port  tack.  The  captain,  after  speaking  apart  to  the  man 
whom  he  called  Brace,  took  me  below  into  the  cabin. 

It  was  like  the  Hebe's,  the  arrangement  of  the  berths  much 
the  same,  and  everything  plain  to  rudeness.  A  large  parrot 
restlessly  clawed  the  brass  wires  of  its  cage  that  swung  under 
the  open  skylight  near  the  lamp.  When  we  entered  Blades 
called  out  "Jackson,"  and  a  stout  young  fellow  came  out  of 
the  pantry. 

"Some  supper  for  this  gentleman,"  said  the  captain  ;  "  then 
turn  to  and  get  the  mate's  berth  ready  for  him.  You've  left 
your  portmanteau  on  the  Great  Salvage,  I  expect?"  he  added, 
grinning,  as  he  turned  his  eyes  upon  me.  "When  the  berth's 
ready,  Jackson,  get  some  slops  up." 

Jackson  stared  at  me  when  Blades  called  mo.  gentleman.  I 
turned  to  the  captain  and  said,  "  I've  not  had  sight  of  a  look- 
ing-glass since  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  took  leave  of  me. 
How  do  I  show,  sir?" 

Blades  bade  the  steward  fetch  a  looking-glass.  I  took  it 
under  the  lamp  and  hardly  knew  myself.  My  beard  was  four 
days  old  ;  my  hair  was  frightfully  wild  and  curled  madly 
owing  to  my  flight  through  two  bushes  ;  my  face  was  badly 
scratched.  I  looked  like  a  drunken  sailor  released  after  a 
week  of  lock-up  in  the  same  state  in  which  he  had  been  found 
up  a  dark  alley. 

"You'll  not  remember  me,  captain?"  said  I,  with  a  hang- 
dog grin,  handing  the  glass  to  the  steward. 

"  Only  by  name,"  he  answered.  "  But  it'll  not  take  you 
long  to  scrub  and  clothe  yourself  into  my  fond  remembrance." 

I  sat  down  at  the  table,  he  opposite,  and  told  him  everything 
as  stands  here  related,  all  about  Fletcher's  piety,  the  four  feet 
of  water  in  the  hold,  the  trick  of  the  rum  casks,  and  the  rest 


BLADES  OF    THE    "  CAROLINE."  79 

of  it.  He  listened  with  fixed  eyes,  deeply  interested,  as, 
indeed,  any  sailor  was  bound  to  be  in  such  a  tale,  seeing  what 
a  hellish  job  those  two  men  still  had  in  hand,  and  how  trag- 
ically the  criminal  conspiracy  had  been  accentuated  by  the 
respectable  Mr.  Fletcher's  heaval  of  me  over  a  hundred  feet 
of  cliff. 

By  the  time  I  had  made  an  end  supper  was  ready,  and  I  fell 
to  with  a  keen  appetite  on  a  solid  square  of  harness-cask  beef 
and  other  shipboard  delicacies,  all  like  what  the  Hebes  table 
provided,  only  more  of  them,  and  very  good  of  their  kind. 
Blades  ate  with  me,  and  our  drink  was  cold  brandy  and 
water. 

This  new  character  in  my  strange  traverses  was  a  fine 
handsome  fellow,  rising  six  feet  tall,  with  tawny  hair  and 
reddish  beard  and  mocking  sea-blue  eyes,  brilliant  as  gems, 
full  of  character  and  spirit.  He  was  an  Orkney  Islander,  but 
had  nothing  of  the  rough  accent  of  the  people  of  those  storm- 
vexed  spots  of  earth.  I  looked  at  him  and  recalled  many 
incidents  of  a  voyage  which  sterner  and  wilder  experiences 
had  long  sunk  deep  out  of  sight.  He  also  looked  at  me,  and 
often,  in  the  intervals  of  our  discourse,  very  musingly  for  so 
merry  an  eye. 

By  and  by,  when  we  had  supped,  he  jumped  up,  pulled  out 
his  watch,  and  said,  "  Go  now  and  get  the  wash  down  you 
need,  and  sweeten  yourself  up  with  such  togs  as  Jackson  has 
got  you.  I'll  be  with  you  anon.  I've  something  to  talk  to 
you  about." 

He  went  on  deck,  and  I  heard  his  heavy  footfall  along  the 
plank.  Jackson  had  lighted  up  the  cabin  assigned  me ;  I 
recollected  that  Blades  had  called  it  the  mate's,  and  wondered 
if  that  officer  had  been  broke  and  where  he  was.  I  had  heard 
as  yet  of  no  mate  in  this  bark  ;  the  man  who  had  whistled  the 
crew  to  'bout  ship  was  Brace,  and  he  was  no  mate.  But  all  the 
news  I  needed  would  come  to  me  from  Blades,  and  without 
asking  questions  of  Jackson  I  stripped  and  thoroughly  washed, 
swept  the  wildness  out  of  my  hair  with  a  strong  brush,  and 
clothed  myself  in  a  colored  shirt,  trousers  of  dungaree,  and  a 
shaggy  pea  jacket,  all  slop  made,  rank  with  the  ready-made 
outfitting  smell. 

After  half  an  hour  Blades  came  below.  He  put  a  handful 
of  Manilla  cheroots  upon  the  table  and  brought  a  bottle  of  Hol- 
lands out  of  a  locker.  The  weather  was  perfectly  quiet,  the 
vessel  going  along  with  never  a  creak  coming  out  of  her 
frame,  and  the  lamp  hanging  as  though  from  a  ceiling  ashore. 
Blades  now  told  me  that  this  bark  was  the  Caroline,  a  trifle 


8o  THE   EMIGRANT   SHIP. 

over  four  hundred  tons,  from  Sunderland  to  Callao  with  a 
small  general  cargo;  she  belonged  to  a  Newcastle  firm.  He 
had  sailed  with  a  mate,  and  a  boatswain  acting  as  second  mate. 
A  few  hundred  miles  north  of  Madeira  the  mate  fell  ill  and 
kept  his  bed  ;  at  his  own  request  he  was  sent  ashore  at  Madeira 
along  with  his  traps.  Blades  sought  for  a  certificated  man  to 
take  his  place  ;  as  no  one  offered  he  got  his  anchor  and 
started  for  his  port  of  destination,  resolved  to  carry  the  bark 
there  watch  and  watch  with  George  Brace,  the  boatswain. 

"  That's  how  matters  stand  now,"  said  he.  "  I'm  no  sea 
lawyer,  and  can't  tell  you  whether  I'm  acting  legally  in  pro- 
ceeding, under  the  circumstances,  without  a  mate.  What  do 
you  say  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  believe  no  ship  may  lawfully  start  from  her  port 
without  a  mate.  But  if  he  falls  sick  and  another's  not  to  be 
got,  what's  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Why,"  he  answered,  breaking  into  his  words  with  an  occa- 
sional short  laugh,  "the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  head  for  the 
Great  Salvage  Island,  where  fifty  to  one  but  you'll  find  some 
cast-away  gentleman  anxious  to  obtain  a  situation.  A  shirt 
isn't  all  front.  It  isn't  always  the  thing  itself  that  you  seem 
to  be  looking  at.  Often  a  man's  best  chances  get  into  the  secret 
parts  of  his  life,  just  as  you  find  a  sovereign  in  a  pocket  you 
forgot  you  dropped  it  into." 

He  nodded  over  his  poised  glass  at  each  wise  saying,  took  a 
deep  draught,  and  sucked  his  mustache. 

"  B'lay  your  jaw  !  Blast  that  talk  !  "  croaked  a  hideous 
voice  overhead. 

"  Bury  your  old  nut  and  turn  in  !  "  said  Blades,  looking  up 
at  the  parrot.  He  then  went  on  : 

"  My  mate  being  gone,  another '11  make  this  voyage  more  com- 
fortable than  I'll  find  it  with  Brace  alone.  I'm  a  nervous  man  " 
— here  he  stiffened  his  chest,  that  might  have  been  some  forty- 
three  inches  in  girth  ;  "  I  like  to  have  the  law  on  my  side.  I 
want  a  mate.  I  ought  to  have  a  mate — I  feel  it.  Well,  the 
very  thing  I  need  crawls  aboard  out  of  the  main  chains  after 
dark  as  if,  by  the  blessed  Jemima,  my  desire  had  been  turned 
into  flesh  and  blood  to  solve  me  a  difficulty.  In  good  Ork- 
ney Saxon,  Morgan,  will  ye  sign  on  as  first  of  this  gallant 
hooker? " 

"  I  will,  and  with  a  thousand  thanks,"  I  replied,  hot-faced 
with  a  sudden  flush  of  delight. 

"  Six  pounds  a  month,  the  voyage  to  Callao  and  back  to  the 
Wear  ! " 

I  bowed  in  silent  joy. 


THE  "EARL    OF  LEICESTER."  8 1 

"  You're  pleased  and  so  am  I,"  said  Blades.  "  You'll  be  a 
changed  man  if  you're  wanting  in  smartness." 

"  You'll  find  me  wanting  in  nothing,  not  even  in  grati- 
tude," said  I. 

"  You'll  have  all  night  in  to  rest  ye  after  the  Salvage  joke. 
Take  till  eight  bells  to-morrow  morning  to  dream  the  old  skunk 
Fletcher  clean  out  of  your  skull,  then  turn  to  with  a  jolly 
heart." 

An  hour  later  I  was  sound  asleep. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    "  EARL    OF    LEICESTER." 

IT  was  a  Friday  morning,  May  i,  1851.  Our  latitude  on 
the  preceding  day  had  been  70°  15'  S.,  our  longitude  13°  21' 
W.  I  do  not  exactly  recollect  how  long  I  had  served  as  mate 
aboard  the  Caroline  when  this  date  of  May  i  came  round. 
But  I  know  that  I  was  now  heartily  liking  the  ship.  My  life 
with  Blades  was  more  like  a  passenger's  than  a  mate's  ;  he 
walked  the  decks  with  me,  we  yarned  and  smoked  together, 
and  galvanized  a  dead  hour  with  cards  or  draughts.  He  lent 
me  one  of  his  sextants  and  made  me  free  of  his  cabin.  I  could 
have  gone  on  sailing  round  the  world  with  such  a  man  forever. 
Never  in  all  the  time  I  used  the  sea  had  I  been  happier. 

Old  Brace,  the  boatswain,  though  a  crabbed  and  sour  tar- 
paulin, was  one  of  the  expertest  seamen  I  had  ever  met.  The 
salt  beef  of  his  calling  had  hardened  into  marrow  in  his  bones  ; 
he  had  worn  out  his  teeth  in  biting  ship's  biscuit  ;  his  joints 
creaked  with  rheumatism  spite  of  the  greasing  of  them  by  half 
a  century  of  pork  fat.  He  had  been  everything  that  a  man 
can  be  at  sea ;  washed  through  the  Channel  in  December  in  a 
barge  loaded  out  of  sight  with  stone,  served  in  a  man-of-war, 
sailed  in  American  liners,  traded  in  contraband  walks  in  the 
South'  Pacific,  had  been  a  beach  comber,  'longshoreman,  whale- 
man, slaver  cook  in  a  West  Indian  drogher,  and  master  of  a 
little  schooner  out  of  Nassau.  It  was  like  reading  a  book  of 
thrilling  sea  tales  to  talk  with  that  man.  I  shall  never  forget 
his  yarns,  nor  the  time  I  spent  in  his  company. 

The  Jacks  of  the  Caroline  were  good  men,  but  then  Blades 
was  one  of  the  few  merchant  skippers  who  have  the  art  of  being 
in  perfect  sympathy  with  their  crew  without  sacrificing  any- 
thing of  their  own  quarter-deck  dignity.  I  did  my  utmost  to 


82  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

support  his  theories  and  carry  out  his  views,  and  we  were  a 
happy,  quiet,  and  comfortable  ship. 

May  i,  1851.  This  was  a  Friday  morning,  and  I  came  on 
deck  at  eight  bells  to  relieve  the  boatswain,  who  had  had  the 
lookout  since  four.  Blades  was  sauntering  to  and  fro  the 
quarter-deck  in  slippers  and  loose  flannel  jacket,  and  wide, 
petticoat-like  drill  trousers.  The  sun  shone  with  a  sharp 
tropic  sting  ;  his  wake  was  rolling  in  a  long  white  flame  over 
the  soft  heave  of  ocean  to  the  very  bends  of  the  bark.  It 
was  mighty  hot,  with  the  heat  besides  tingling  off  the  water 
where  the  dazzle  of  the  soaring  sun  was,  as  though  the 
spangled  sea  was  the  tremble  of  countless  white-hot  needles 
coming  at  you. 

We  carried  but  a  short  awning,  and  in  the  shadow  of  it  stood 
the  man  at  the  wheel.  The  breeze  was  light,  hot  as  your 
breath,  and  out  of  the  northwest.  Brace  had  piled  up  the 
studding  sails,  but  the  bark's  way  was  scarce  perceptible,  and 
the  tail  of  her  greasy  wake  was  not  a  pistol  shot  off. 

The  first  thing  I  saw  when  I  came  on  deck  was  the  three 
white  spires  of  a  vessel,  hull  out  of  sight,  away  down  on  the 
lee  bow.  The  sea  line  ran  unbroken  round  the  ocean  to  her  ; 
there  was  a  shading  of  cloud  just  above  the  gleam  she  made 
on  the  blue  rim,  and  over  our  mastheads  the  sky  was  freckled 
with  morning  vapor  ;  a  high,  blue,  bright  morning,  splendid 
for  the  sparkling  azure  space  the  eye  found  in  it,  but  hot  ! 
hot  !  and  the  breeze  a  light  air. 

"  What  have  we  there  ? "  says  Blades,  looking  at  the  dis- 
tant sail,  seemingly  for  the  first  time. 

I  fetched  the  glass. 

"A  small  ship,"  says  he,  talking  with  his  eye  at  the  tele- 
scope ;  "  she's  lying  right  athwart  our  hawse.  Her  yards  seem 
queerly  braced  :  the  fore  and  mizzen  square,  and  the  main 
fore  and  aft.  Look  at  her." 

I  steadied  the  glass  ;  the  three  soft  feathery  heights  shone 
in  the  lenses  in  symmetric  spaces,  and  I  perceived  the  yards 
braced  in  the  manner  described  by  Blades.  The  sails  hqvered 
like  shreds  of  morning  mist,  and  their  whiteness  was  shot  with 
airy  gleams.  The  line  of  the  vessel's  rail  was  just  visible  above 
the  edge  of  the  sea,  "  dipping,"  as  sailors  call  it — I  mean  com- 
ing and  going  with  the  light  swaying  of  the  bark. 

When  I  had  seen  her  canvas  there  was  nothing  else  to  look 
at.  I  watched  her  a  little,  thinking  she  might  be  maneuver- 
ing ;  she  hung  in  one  posture  with  her  head  athwart  our 
course,  and  I  said  to  Blades,  "  If  she's  not  derelict  there's 
sickness  aboard  and  she's  helpless." 


THE  "EARL    OF  LEICESTER:'  83 

"  I  believe  you're  right,"  said  he  slowly  when  he  had  looked 
again. 

But  now  breakfast  was  announced.  The  captain  went  below 
to  eat  and  left  me  to  pace  the  deck  alone. 

The  Caroline  was  a  flush-decked  vessel,  with  a  large 
windlass  in  her  square  bow,  and  a  heavy  littered  look  of  deck. 
She  had  the  scantling  of  a  frigate  ;  everything  was  heavy  and 
large.  I  stood  beside  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  gazing  forward  ; 
smoke  was  streaming  from  the  caboose  chimney  ;  some  of  the 
watch  below  were  scrubbing  their  clothes  in  the  lee  scuppers  ; 
those  of  my  own  watch  were  at  work  about  the  vessel,  one  in 
the  maintop,  a  couple  in  the  fore  shrouds.  A  fellow  sat 
astride  the  fore  yardarm  doing  something  to  the  lift ;  his  loose 
white  trousers  and  naked  feet,  his  straw  hat  and  mahogany 
face,  with  one  bright  eye  in  profile,  and  four  inches  of  black 
beard  curling  like  the  edge  of  a  saucer,  stood  out  against  the 
liquid  sky  as  prismatically  hued  as  a  daguerreotype.  Indeed 
the  ocean  light  that  morning  gave  a  look  of  silky  shifting  color 
to  everything. 

The  bark  made  me  think  of  the  Hebe,  and  I  wondered  what 
the  bleared  old  fabric's  reckoning  would  be  at  noon  that  day. 
Would  Cadman  and  the  other  stick  to  their  resolution  to  wreck 
her  ?  Wouldn't  the  conscience  that  must  come  of  my  murder 
fright  them  from  the  commission  of  other  damnable  things  ? 
Alas  !  conscience  is  a  flower  of  slow  cultivation,  scarce  likely 
to  break  its  tender  shoot  through  the  dung  crust  of  such  minds 
as  theirs. 

Now  and  again  I  looked  at  the  distant  ship  as  I  stood  or 
paced,  musing.  We  were  creeping  southward  ;  she,  with  her 
yards  braced  anyhow,  hung  right  athwart  our  road.  Slowly 
we  raised  her,  and  by  the  time  Blades  came  on  deck  she  was 
showing  a  white  line  broken  with  painted  ports.  Now,  too,  I 
made  out  a  color  at  her  mizzen  peak,  red,  but  hanging  up  and 
down  and  indistinguishable. 

Piping  hot  it  was  that  morning,  and  sweet  was  the  sudden 
gushing  through  the  heel  of  a  windsail  of  a  little  freshening  of 
the  breeze  on  deck  while  I  breakfasted.  When  I  returned 
above  I  found  the  water  darkened  into  violet  by  a  pleasant 
breeze,  with  here  and  there  an  instant  ivory  wink  of  foam  in  the 
curls  of  brine ;  from  the  bark's  fat  sides  the  flying  fish  were 
glancing  in  dozens,  and  we  had  a  thin  white  line  of  water  to 
leeward  and  a  noise  of  purring  water  under  the  bows,  with  a 
universal  tautening  of  brace  and  curving  of  leech  and  arching 
of  foot ;  the  jibs  swelled  with  a  yearning  look  forward  ;  it  was 
like  the  cock  of  a  dog's  ears  at  the  sight  of  another  dog.  The 


84  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

bark  seemed  to  know  there  was  a  ship  in  sight.  Gods,  what 
life  comes  into  a  sailing  ship  with  a  little  wind  !  It  is  the 
breath  of  her  being,  the  soul  of  her  strakes  and  treenails,  and 
thus  possessed  she'll  do  everything  but  speak. 

We  were  within  hailing  distance  of  the  vessel  by  eleven 
o'clock.  Our  helm  was  then  put  down  and  our  main  topsail 
brought  to  the  mast,  and  there  lay  within  easy  reach  of  a  man's 
voice  a  ship  of  something  less  than  six  hundred  tons,  with 
painted  ports,  metaled  to  the  bends  with  new  sheathing,  her 
figurehead  some  dark  gold  device,  her  quarters  lustrous  with 
gilt,  but  she  had  a  desperately  slack  look,  spite  of  her  smart 
hull,  with  her  outer  and  flying  jibs  hauled  down  and  hanging 
loose,  her  three  royals  clewed  up,  but  unstowed,  her  spanker 
half  trailed  in  as  though  by  insufficient  hands,  with  other  signs 
of  helplessness  which  I'll  not  weary  the  shore-going  reader 
with. 

Two  men  only  were  visible  on  her  short  length  of  poop,  and 
one  of  them  was  at  the  wheel.  I  saw  no  signs  of  any  living 
thing  elsewhere.  The  galley  chimney  forked  up  black  and 
unsmoking.  In  one  deep  pause  before  we  hailed  I  heard 
a  cock  crow  and  afterward  the  bleat  of  a  sheep.  We  lay 
within  a  few  ships'  lengths  of  each  other.  The  fellow  at  the 
stranger's  helm  was  just  such  another  plain  seaman  as  stood 
at  our  wheel  ;  the  other  was  dressed  in  a  cloth  coat  and  a 
wide  straw  hat.  He  stood  watching  us  until  we  had  ranged 
abreast.  Then,  with  a  glance  aloft  at  the  flag,  which  proved 
the  English  merchant  ensign,  jack  down,  he  came  to  the  low 
poop  rail,  got  upon  it,  and  stood  with  a  hand  at  his  ear. 

"  Ship  ahoy  !  "  cried  Blades. 

"  Hollo  !  " 

"  What  ship's  that  ?  " 

"  The  Earl  of  Leicester  from  Madras  for  the  Thames. 
We're  in  great  distress.  Will  you  send  one  of  your  officers,  as 
we're  without  men  to  man  one  of  our  boats?" 

"  What's  wrong  with  you  ?"  Blades  called. 

"  Most  of  the  crew  are  dead  of  the  plague,"  the  other  cried  ; 
then  shook  his  head  and  flourished  his  arm,  loudly  shouting  : 
"  No,  I  don't  mean  the  plague.  It  aint  the  plague,  sir.  It's 
a  sort  of  sickness  like  fever.  Some  of  them  shipped  with  it, 
and  gave  it  to  the  others." 

"  Whatever  it  is  it's  long  in  killing,  since  it's  lasted  them 
all  the  way  round  to  up  here,"  said  Blades,  looking  at  me. 
"  What's  it  you  want  ?"  he  bawled. 

"  Help,  sir,"  cried  the  other. 

"  How  many  can  you  muster  ?  " 


THE  "EARL   OF  LEICESTER."  85 

The  man  pointed  to  the  sailor  at  the  wheel. 

"  Too  few  as  a  ship's  company  for  a  vessel  of  that  size," 
said  Blades,  rounding  upon  me  with  a  bothered  look. 
"  Vender's  a  sick  ship,  and  to  send  men  would  mean  to  them 
the  death  that's  emptied  her  hammocks.  Yet  to  bring  those 
two  chaps  aboard  might  signify  a  like  beastly  quandary  for 
the  good  bark  Caroline,  for  who's  to  know  how  tainted  they 
are  ?" 

The  man  in  the  straw  hat  gazed  at  us  from  the  top  of  the 
rail  without  motion.  A  hush  fell.  You  heard  nothing  but 
the  noise  of  water  slopping  alongside,  the  clinking  of  a  chain 
sheet  strained  by  a  slight  roll,  and  from  the  vessel  abreast  of 
us  the  crowing  of  a  cock.  In  that  pause  I  took  another  good 
look  at  the  ship.  To  my  nautical  eye  her  appearance  did  not 
correspond  with  the  straw-hatted  man's  statement.  She 
seemed  too  clean  to  be  all  the  way  from  Madras,  which  meant 
a  hundred  days  of  ocean.  Her  rigging  was  well  set  up,  her 
paint  work  fresh.  I  saw  no  growth  of  grass,  no  adhesion  of 
shell  upon  the  new  sheathing  she'd  slightly  lift.  Though  her 
short  poop  deck  lay  open  betwixt  the  low  rails,  her  bulwarks 
stood  tall  and  hid  her  amidships  to  as  far  as  the  topgallant 
forecastle,  which  was  railed  like  the  poop.  There  was  no 
motion  in  the  sea  to  make  her  roll  her  main  and  quarter-decks 
into  view.  Three  good  white  boats,  whale-ended,  hung  at  her 
davits.  One  boat,  the  fourth,  was  gone,  and  a  long,  light  gig 
dangled  at  her  stern.  I  also  spied  a  big  longboat  abaft  the 
galley  under  a  number  of  spare  booms. 

"  Yet  it  wouldn't  do,"  said  Blades,  looking  at  the  vessel 
with  one  eye  closed,  "to  leave  that  fine  ship  to  go  to  pieces 
down  here.  He  hailed  her  again  :  "  Have  you  any  dead 
aboard  ? " 

"  All  are  over  the  side,  sir,"  was  the  answer. 

"  How  many  sick  have  you  ? " 

The  man  seemed  to  consider,  looking  round  as  he  did  so  to 
the  fellow  at  the  wheel.  He  then  bawled  back  in  tones  that 
warranted  him  in  lung  power  if  in  nothing  else,  "  There's  two 
sick,  and  us  two  makes  four  ;  all  that's  left  of  three-and- 
twenty  men." 

"  What  are  you  ? "  called  Blades. 

"I'm  the  ship's  carpenter,  sir." 

Blades  still  hung  in  the  wind  ;  he'd  look  at  me  doubtfully, 
then  at  the  vessel,  and  indeed  the  dilemma  was  no  small  one. 
Yonder  lay  a  plague  ship — so  at  least  her  carpenter  reported 
her.  If  we  sent  a  few  hands  on  board  to  help  her  to  her  port, 
what  was  to  hinder  them  from  perishing  as  the  original  crew 


86  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

had,  leaving  the  ship  in  the  same  plight  ?  If  we  brought  those 
two  men  off  they  might  infect  the  whole  of  our  company. 
And  then  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  two  sick  wretches  in 
her  forecastle  ?  Again,  yonder  was  a  craft  the  value  of  whose 
salving  would  certainly  not  fall  short  of  a  little  estate.  All 
these  conflicting  reflections  worked  in  Blades'  face,  and  pro- 
duced twenty  expressions  in  a  minute.  He  said  to  me,  "  We 
certainly  can't  leave  her." 

"  No,  sir." 

"  What's  the  nature  of  the  sickness  aboard.  I'd  give  fifty 
pounds  to  find  out." 

"  Shall  I  go  over  to  her  and  see  what  there  is  to  report  to 
you  ? " 

"  But  you're  no  doctor,  are  ye  ?  Could  you  name  a  disease 
from  a  description  of  symptoms?  Suppose  it  should  be  small- 
pox ?  "  He  shuddered  .with  a  sudden  face  of  loathing  as  he 
looked  toward  the  vessel. 

"  I  expect  it's  some  distemper  arising  from  the  cargo," 
said  I,  "  like  blindness  from  wheat  or  fever  from  coffee." 

This  seemed  to  give  him  an  idea,  and  he  hailed  the  ship  to 
know  her  load. 

"  Sugar  mainly,"  answered  the  man,  who  continued  stand- 
ing on  the  rail,  holding  on  by  a  backstay,  apparently  eying 
us  intently. 

"  Don't  some  sort  of  sweating  sickness  come  from  sugar?" 
said  Blades,  turning  to  me. 

I  didn't  know. 

"  It  may  be  as  you  say,"  said  he.  "  She'll  not  be  the  first 
ship  whose  cargo  has  bred  pestilence  for  her  people.  There 
can  be  no  harm  done,  I  think,  in  your  taking  a  boat  and  going 
across  and  looking  around.  Even  if  the  vessel's  not  to  be 
meddled  with,  the  men  must  be  saved  ;  that's  the  confounded 
problem.  Unless  we  tow  her — but  then  we'll  need  to  board 
her  to  furl  her  canvas.  Take  a  boat — that's,  if  you  have  no 
objection.  I'm  not  for  putting  this  sort  of  job  upon  any  man 
as  a  duty." 

I  sung  out  for  some  men  to  lay  aft  and  clear  away  the  port 
quarter  boat.  Four  or  five  sailors  came  slouchingly  and 
reluctantly  along  the  deck. 

"  Bear  a  hand.  Aft  with  you,"  I  shouted,  for  I  ever  heartily 
abominated  in  seamen  that  sort  of  behavior  which  we  of  the 
jacket  call  sojering. 

The  group  came  to  a  stand  at  the  quarter-deck  capstan,  and 
after  a  little  backing  and  filling,  hard  biting  of  junks  in  their 
cheeks,  and  screwing  up  of  eyes  at  the  ship  with  sulky,  woebe- 


THE  "EARL   OF  LEICESTER."  87 

gone  looks,  one  of  them  said  gloomily,  "  Are  us  men  expected 
to  board  that  vessel  ? " 

"  To  put  me  aboard,"  said  I. 

"  Capt'n,  you  heard  what  the  covey  in  the  straw  hat  said," 
exclaimed  the  man. 

"  I'm  not  asking  you  to  step  over  the  side.  The  chief  mate 
takes  the  risk.  You  can  lay  off  and  breathe  and  spit,"  said 
Blades. 

On  this  they  came  to  the  boat,  but  sullenly  and  reluctantly, 
cleared  and  lowered  her.  Three  of  them  entered  ;  I  followed, 
and  we  pulled  for  the  vessel.  I  headed  to  pass  under  her 
stern,  to  board  her  to  leeward.  When  the  man  in  the  straw 
hat  saw  me  coming  he  leisurely  stepped  off  the  rail  and  crossed 
the  deck.  I  guessed  from  his  motions  that  he  took  his  calam- 
itous situation  pretty  coolly  ;  there  had  been  nothing  whining, 
nothing  whatever  of  the  "  Help-us-for-God's-sake  "  yowling 
in  his  cries  to  us.  I  saw  "Earl  of  Leicester,  London,"  in  small 
letters  on  the  ship's  counter  as  we  pulled  under  the  square  of 
stern,  with  its  large,  gleaming  cabin  windows  just  under  the 
keel  of  the  gig  ;  we  were  close  here  and  could  see  how  clean 
her  sheathing  was  when  the  small  swell  hollowed  a  trifle  under 
her  run,  lifting  the  metal  and  the  copper  of  her  rudder,  with 
a  look  almost  of  brand-new  light  in  it,  out  of  the  green 
brine. 

"  Mizzen  chains,  lads,"  said  I ;  "  then  shove  off  and  hang 
within  hailing  distance." 

I  sprang  into  one  of  those  platforms  to  which,  in  those  days, 
the  shrouds  of  the  lower  masts  were  secured  by  dead-eyes, 
and  the  bow  oar  eagerly  thrust  the  boat  clear. 

I  found  myself  on  the  deck  of  one  of  the  smartest  ships  I 
had  ever  boarded.  Her  planks  were  like  a  yacht's,  with  the 
white  grain  of  the  wood  and  the  clean-edged  black  seams.  As 
I  sprang  from  the  rail  I  glanced  forward,  but  saw  not  a  living 
creature  stirring.  Nothing  moved  but  the  heads  of  a  number 
of  cocks  and  hens  betwixt  the  bars  of  a  long  coop  just  forward 
of  the  mainmast.  The  main  hatch  was  closed  with  a  tarpaulin 
over  it  in  ship-shape,  cargo-bottom  fashion.  The  instant 
impression  of  distress  and  dreariness  I  got  out  of  my  first  look 
round  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  of  my  memories  :  all  the 
running  gear  slack,  the  yards  wildly  braced,  the  unstowed 
cloths  flogging  aloft  in  the  now  freshening  breeze,  the  big  top- 
sails silent,  one  hollowing  in,  the  other  swelling  out,  the  decks 
a  lifeless  length  save  but  for  those  quick  throbbings  of  red 
combs  in  the  coop,  the  ship  without  way,  course,  or  meaning 
in  the  aspect  of  her  canvas,  and  a  short  man  with  a  crumpled 


88  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

face  and  a  large  mustache  holding  on  to  the  wheel  as  though 
making  pretense  to  steer. 

The  seaman  who  had  answered  Blades'  hail  stood  beside  the 
mizzen  shrouds  as  I  climbed  up  out  of  the  chains.  He  was  a 
dark,  grave-faced  man,  between  thirty-five  and  forty  years  old, 
with  shaven  cheeks,  and  a  quantity  of  black  hair  dashed  with 
gray  upon  his  throat  and  chin.  His  eyes  were  soft,  black,  and 
penetrating,  his  countenance  comely  after  a  rude  pattern,  the 
features  good,  but  coarse.  His  coat  was  of  new  cloth  ;  his 
waistcoat  and  small  clothes  were  also  new  and  good.  I  had 
sailed  with  several  ship's  carpenters  in  my  time,  but  never 
before  met  with  one  who  at  sea  dressed  so  well  as  this  man, 
with  fine  flannel  shirt,  silk  handkerchief,  and  good  Wellington 
boots. 

The  other  fellow,  whom  I  just  cast  an  eye  at,  was  of  the  aver- 
age type  of  sailor,  dressed  in  the  jumper's  rig,  naked  feet,  old 
duck  breeches,  a  red  shirt  which  exposed  half  his  breast,  and  a 
knife  in  a  sheath  strapped  round  his  middle.  I  supposed  him 
a  foreigner  with  his  big  mustache,  despite  a  leering  blue  eye 
and  one  of  those  dry,  twisted  expressions  crowding  the  face 
with  puckers — full,  too,  of  a  low,  vulgar  humor,  which  I  never 
yet  fell  in  with  out  of  this  kingdom. 

The  man  in  the  straw  hat  flourished  his  hand  in  a  grave 
salute. 

"  I'm  thankful  to  you,  sir,  for  this  visit,"  said  he  in  a  sober, 
smooth,  rather  deep  voice.  "  May  I  ask  your  rank  aboard  the 
bark?" 

"  I'm  her  mate,"  I  answered,  struck  by  his  very  earnest 
regard  of  me.  "  Let's  hear  now  what  is  this  sickness  that's 
reduced  you  to  two  well  men  out  of  a  forecastle  full." 

"There's  a  description  of  it  in  r.  book  below,"  he  answered. 
"  I  found  it  in  the  capt'n's  cabin.  I'm  no  scholar  and  couldn't 
give  it  jer  as  that  there  book  expresses  of  it." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  said  I.     "  A  medical  work  ?  " 

"  I  allow  it  is,  then.  It's  got  pictures  of  things  belonging  to 
the  human  body — heyes  and  hears,  a  man's  thumbs,  and  the 
likes  of  that.  There's  a  piece  in  that  book  that  answers  to 
what  the  men  have  died  of.  Kindly  step  below  an'  I'll  show 
it  jer." 

"  What's  your  cargo  again  ?  " 

"  Mainly  sugar." 

"  Has  it  sweated  ?" 

"  Can't  say  I've  took  notice  of  that,"  he  replied,  looking  in 
his  slow  way  at  the  man  at  the  wheel,  who  grew  uneasy,  I 
thought,  under  this  silent  reference,  since  he  shuffled  and  gave 


TRAPPED.  89 

the  spokes  a  twirl,  and  looked  aloft  as  though  for  a  lifting 
leech. 

I  hesitated  before  entering  the  cabin,  having  somehow  a 
fancy  of  the  taste  of  sickness  in  the  atmosphere  down  there.  I 
glanced  at  the  skylight  ;  it  was  closed,  and  the  crimson  blinds 
under  it  were  drawn.  I  found  nothing  significant  in  this  amid 
such  a  picture  of  disorder  as  the  ship  presented  aloft,  the  con- 
fusion up  there  working  down  into  the  whole  body  of  her,  so 
to  speak,  and  affecting  the  eye  as  though  everything  was 
wrong. 

"  Can't  you  bring  that  book  up  on  deck  ?  " 

"  I'd  take  it  kindly  if  you'd  step  below,  sir,"  said  the  man, 
speaking  always  very  soberly  and  smoothly,  with  a  slowness  in 
the  motion  of  his  head  and  body  as  though  his  spirits  had 
been  sunk  by  anxiety.  "  The  log  book's  in  the  cabin.  I'd 
like  you  to  see  the  entries  down  to  the  time  when  the  second 
mate,  the  last  of  'em  aft  here,  was  took.  Yer'll  get  the  rate  of 
deaths  there,  likewise,  perhaps  a  sarviceable  hint  or  two.  I 
allow  that  my  answer  touching  the  plague  skeered  them  yon- 
der." He  dropped  his  head  sideways  toward  the  bark.  "I 
gave  the  thing  the  first  name  as  rose.  We  badly  want  help, 
sir.  You  can  see  it  now,"  and  he  sent  a  look  along  the  silent, 
deserted  decks. 

That  notion  of  inspecting  the  log  determined  me.  More- 
over, I  wanted  to  see  the  ship's  papers.  I  moved  toward  the 
companion,  observing  this  the  man  went  before  and  led  the 
way  below. 

The  instant  I  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps  I  saw  that 
I  was  trapped,  and  turned  to  rush  up,  meaning  to  jump 
overboard  with  a  shout  to  the  Caroline 's  boat,  but  even 
while  I  drew  breath  with  that  intention  the  companion  was 
closed  by  some  hand  above,  and  the  steps  darkened,  and  I 
faced  forward  again,  breathing  hard  and  short,  with  both  my 
fists  clenched  prepared  for  a  struggle  for  life. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

TRAPPED. 

THE  cabin,  or  cuddy,  as  it  might  be  called,  under  the  poop 
deck  was  in  shadow  owing  to  the  companion  being  closed  and 
the  crimson  blinds  of  the  skylight  drawn  over  the  glass.  But 
there  was  light  enough  to  give  one  a  clear  view;  it  shone  through 
little  windows  forward  overlooking  the  quarter-deck,  I  saw 


90  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

five  men  in  that  cuddy  in  addition  to  the  straw-hatted  man 
who  had  conducted  me  below.  They  were  forecastle  hands, 
dressed  in  the  plain  familiar  attire  of  the  pier  head  and  the 
boarding  house.  They  had  been  sitting  when  we  entered,  but 
sprang  to  their  feet  on  our  coming  down,  while  one  of  them 
stepped  quickly  betwixt  me  and  the  companion  ladder. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  take  you  unawares  in  this  fashion,"  said  the 
man  who  had  styled  himself  the  vessel's  carpenter,  "  but  the 
long  and  short  of  it  is  we  want  a  navigator  and  we  want  a 
captain,  and  you'll  sarve  our  tarn  for  both,  sir.  S'elp  me  God, 
as  I  stand  here,  we  mean  honestly.  It's  all  come  about  fairly. 
The  only  dirty  part  of  it'll  be  this  here  kidnapping  of  you.  But 
what  must  be  must  be.  I  beg  you'll  keep  your  mind  easy; 
nothen  but  what  you'll  presently  find  right's  intended.  These 
are  to  be  your  quarters,  and  here  we'll  ask  you  to  be  good 
enough  to  stop  till  we  calls  upon  you  to  take  charge." 

He  stepped  to  a  door,  and,  throwing  it  open,  motioned  me 
into  a  good-sized  cabin,  lighted  by  a  large  circular  porthole 
in  the  ship's  side. 

I  had  stared  at  him  with  a  wildly  beating  heart  and  doubt- 
less  with  a  stone-white  face,  so  startling,  so  terrifying  had  been 
this  sudden,  this  most  unexpected  entrapment,  while  he  had 
delivered  the  above  extraordinary  address.  Then  as  he  stood 
motioning  me  into  the  sleeping  berth,  I  exclaimed,  "You 
must  let  me  go  !  I'm  mate  of  that  bark  abreast  of  you,  and 
my  services  are  wanted  there.  I  can't  help  you  here." 

"  We  beg  you'll  make  no  fuss,"  said  one  of  the  seamen,  a 
brown,  high-colored  man,  with  thelooks  of  a  fisherman.  "We're 
all  agreed.  A  master's  wanted,  and  now  you're  here  you'll 
have  to  stop,  sir." 

This  was  said,  not  insolently,  but  firmly,  yet  with  a  note  in  it 
that  threatened  temper. 

"  But,  good  God  !  men,"  cried  I,  "  this  is  an  English  ship 
I  take  it,  and  you're  Englishmen,  aren't  you  ?  You  can't  walk 
off  with  a  man  in  this  fashion.  It's  a  criminal  offense — a 
hanging  job  not  long  since.  There's  many  a  passing  ship 
that'll  help  you  to  a  navigator  ;  don't  carry  me  away  against 
my  will  without  the  knowledge  of  my  captain,  who'll  suppose 
I've  run  from  him." 

"  Mr.  Brigstock,"  said  a  short,  fat  seaman  with  pig's  eyes, 
and  full  hanging  chops,  "we  don't  want  to  use  no  force  ;  all 
this  here's  been  schemed  out,  and  it's  about  time  we  trimmed 
sail,  aint  it  ?  " 

"  It's  crool  hot  down  here,  with  everything  shut  up  too," 
said  the  high-colored,  fisherman-like  sailor. 


TRAPPED.  91 

"  Jump  on  to  the  table  and  open  that  skylight,  Bill,"  said 
the  man  called  Bngstock,  who  was  plainly  the  leader  in  this 
queer  ocean  business. 

"There's  more'n  us  as  is  finding  it  hot — don't  forget  that, 
Mr.  Brigstock,"  exclaimed  a  lively  looking  young  seaman  with 
ginger  hair  and  greenish  eyes,  and  that  sort  of  clean  appear- 
ance you'd  expect  in  a  man  who  had  served  aboard  a  man-of- 
war  or  spent  a  year  or  two  in  the  ranks. 

"  There's  this  to  t>e  said  first,"  said  Brigstock,  addressing 
me  :  "  whatever  clothes  and  property  we  may  be  forcing  you  to 
lose  sight  of — no  obligation  to  speak  of  losing  of  'em — will  be 
made  up  for  fivefold.  There's  plenty  to  pick  and  choose 
from,  and  the  first  inning's  yourn.  That,  sir,  on  Thomas 
Brigstock 's  good  oath.  Now,  if  you  please" — and  with  another 
grave  motion  of  his  arm,  but  viewing  me  sternly  and  even 
threateningly,  he  invited,  or  rather  commanded,  me  to  enter. 

I  perceived  the  uselessness  of  expostulation  or  entreaty.  I 
had  followed  the  sea  too  long  to  mistake  any  meaning  I  might 
find  in  the  faces  and  talk  of  sailors.  Half  stunned  with  the 
suddenness  of  it  all,  and  scarcely  yet  fully  realizing  what  had 
befallen  me,  I  obeyed  Brigstock's  gesture  ;  when  I  was  in  the 
cabin  he  lifted  his  straw  hat,  and  saying  with  a  relaxed  face 
and  very  civilly,  "  Your  wants  shall  be  seen  to.  You'll  be 
kept  here  no  longer  than  is  needful,"  he  withdrew,  closing  the 
door  after  him  and  locking  it  outside. 

I  went  to  a  bunk  under  the  porthole,  and  leaning  against  it 
with  folded  arms  waited  for  my  wits  to  collect  and  compose 
themselves.  This  was  a  large,  cheerful  cabin,  the  fittings 
excellent,  the  bunk,  washstand,  little  chest  of  drawers,  all  of 
polished  mahogany,  the  long,  handsome  locker  of  some  dark 
wood,  perhaps  oak.  It  had  certainly  been  the  captain'scabin. 
I  guessed  that  by  twenty  signs — by  the  chronometers  on 
shelves,  the  fine  telescope,  the  bag  of  charts,  the  cases  of 
mathematical  instruments  on  a  hinged  table,  the  telltale  com- 
pass amidships  of  the  ceiling.  There  was  good  new  bedding 
in  the  bunk,  some  wearing  apparel  hung  at  the  bulkhead,  and 
a  square  of  Brussels  carpet  furnished  the  deck. 

On  looking  through  the  porthole  I  saw  the  Caroline ;  she 
lay  toy-like  in  the  radiant  disk,  diminished  by  it,  though  no 
further  off  than  before.  I  opened  the  port  to  let  in  air  and 
hear ;  just  as  I  did  this  the  powerful  voice  of  Brigstock 
sounded  overhead  : 

"  Boat  ahoy  !  You  can  return  to  the  bark.  Your  mate 
means  to  stop  along  with  us." 

If  any  answer  was  returned  none  reached  my  ear.     In  a  few 


92  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

moments  I  caught  the  noise  of  the  voices  of  seamen  pulling 
and  hauling,  with  a  hurried  tread  of  feet,  and  an  occasional 
shout  as  of  command.  The  breeze  was  now  fresh  and  brilliant, 
and  gushed  blue  and  salt  with  the  color  and  savor  of  the 
ocean  through  the  orifice  I  stood  at.  The  bark  still  kept 
her  topsail  to  the  mast  ;  every  sail  was  tremorless.  She  some- 
times shot  a  dazzling  flash  of  sunshine  from  the  glass  of  her 
skylight  ;  it  was  like  a  gun,  and  I  wished  to  Heaven  in  the 
wrath  and  despair  which  rilled  me  as  I  stood  looking  that  it 
had  been  one  often  repeated  and  loaded  to  the  muzzle. 

What  would  Blades  suppose  ?  That  I  had  voluntarily 
quitted  the  service  of  his  ship  ?  Would  he  understand  I  had 
been  stolen  ?  I  saw  him  clearly  as  he  stood  aft  near  the  wheel. 
Beside  him  was  old  Brace.  It  was  easy  to  imagine  the  aston- 
ishment and  consternation  which  held  them  dumb  and  staring. 
Then  I  saw  Blades  spring  with  motions  full  of  passion  into  the 
mizzen  shrouds,  and  as  he  hung  there,  lifting  his  hand  to  his 
mouth  to  direct  the  flight  of  a  cry,  the  boat  swept  into  the 
circumference  of  the  porthole,  the  stroke  oar,  rowing,  fisher- 
man fashion,  face  forward,  looking  up  at  the  bark  and  seem- 
ingly called  to  old  Brace,  who  leaned  over  the  rail  to  hear. 

"  Ship  ahoy  !  "  came  the  voice  of  Blades  in  one  of  those 
sonorous,  deep-chested,  hurricane  roars  which  years  of  bawl- 
ing to  men  aloft,  and  amid  the  thunders  of  hard  weather,  had 
qualified  his  fine  chest  to  deliver.  "  What  do  you  mean  by 
keeping  my  mate  ?  What  trick's  this  you're  playing  off  on  me  ! 
Return  the  man,  d'ye  hear?  Return  the  man!"  Here  he 
shouted  an  order  down  to  the  boat  that  was  now  alongside. 

"  I  have  the  name  of  your  ship "  The  rest  was  lost 

owing  to  the  bark  at  this  moment  sliding  out  of  the  ring  of 
the  porthole.  The  seamen  had  trimmed  sail — the  vessel  I  was 
aboard  of  had  gathered  way — we  were  off  ! 

I  fell  back,  breathing  thick  and  feverishly  with  helpless  rage 
and  alarm.  The  breeze  was  now  sweeping  full  and  fair  into 
the  trimmed  canvas  of  the  ship.  The  water  was  passing  in 
a  glittering  hurry  of  ripples  fast  growing  and  racing  under  the 
sweep  of  the  wind  ;  my  cabin  was  full  of  the  twinkling  lights 
of  the  sliding  surface.  The  ship  had  gathered  way  quickly, 
and  the  foam  of  the  arching  bow  wave  streamed  like  a  satin 
ribbon  within  biscuit  toss  of  my  porthole.  It  was  about  a 
quarter  to  one  by  the  sun.  I  looked  up  at  the  telltale  com- 
pass and  found  they  were  heading  the  ship  .due  south.  Due 
south  1  What  was  the  meaning  of  this  mess  I  had  suddenly 
tumbled  into  ?  The  ship  was  homeward  bound  just  now, 
loaded  with  sugar  from  Madras  !  What  was  it — a  mutiny  ? 


TRAPPED.  93 

If  so,  a  murderous  one  surely,  for  in  this  sort  of  vessel  you'd 
look  for  a  captain  and  three  mates,  and  where  were  they  ? 
Or  was  it  that  the  craft  had  been  abandoned  and  then  taken 
possession  of  by  a  shipwrecked  crew,  who,  having  settled  what 
to  do  with  her,  had  been  lying  in  a  posture  of  seeming  disorder 
to  carry  off  the  first  poor  devil  their  lies  or  a  distress  color 
could  court  aboard  ? 

After  I  had  been  locked  up  about  an  hour  somebody  struck 
the  cabin  door,  the  key  was  turned,  and  a  young  seaman  walked 
in  bearing  a  tray.  He  put  the  tray  upon  the  table  ;  it  was 
furnished  with  the  plain  food  of  the  sea — some  slices  of  salt 
horse,  a  ship's  biscuit,  a  cube  of  cheese,  and  a  bottle  of  ale. 
The  man  went  out,  locking  the  door.  I  did  not  speak  to  him. 
Indeed  I  had  no  questions  to  ask.  I  took  him  to  be  an  ordi- 
nary seaman — no  man,  anyhow,  to  give  me  news  of  the  crew's 
intentions. 

The  ale  refreshed  me  exceedingly  ;  there  is  no  better  drink 
ashore  and  at  sea  it  tops  the  list  of  all  draughts — when  you 
can  get  it.  I  ate  some  beef  and  bread,  and  then  to  divert  my- 
self took  a  look  around  the  cabin.  On  examining  the  tele- 
scope, I  found  an  inscription  upon  it  stating  that  it  had  been 
presented  to  Thomas  Halcrow,  master  of  the  Star  of  India,  by 
certain  passengers  in  that  ship,  1847.  I  found  the  name  of 
Halcrow  upon  the  sextant  and  chronometer  cases,  and  like- 
wise read  it  in  some  nautical  works  upon  a  shelf.  Thomas 
Halcrow,  then,  I  guessed,  had  been  the  commander  of  this 
ship,  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  What  had  the  crew  done  with  him  ? 

I  sought  for  the  vessel's  log  book  and  papers,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose. Some  clothes  were  stowed  in  the  locker ;  here,  too,  I 
found  a  desk,  which,  as  the  lid  opened  when  I  handled  it,  I 
took  the  liberty  of  examining,  hoping  to  meet  with  something 
to  give  me  information  about  this  ship,  but  I  came  across  noth- 
ing to  the  point.  A  bundle  of  old  letters,  all  addressed  to  "  My 
dearest  Tom,"  a  miniature  portrait  of  a  good-looking  young 
woman,  and  a  few  odds  and  ends  of  a  desk's  ordinary  equip- 
ments— these  formed  the  contents.  I  hunted  with  patience  and 
eagerness  for  the  ship's  papers,  and  was  heartily  vexed  at  not 
finding  them.  Taking  a  sheet  of  paper  from  the  desk,  I  sat  at 
the  table  and  wrote  in  pencil  as  briefly  as  possible  the  particu- 
lars of  my  entrapment.  This  done  I  folded  the  paper  and  put 
it  in  the  ale  bottle.  There  was  sealing  wax  in  the  desk  and  sev- 
eral boxes  of  wax  lights  on  the  shelf  ;  with  these  I  carefully 
sealed  the  cork,  and  then  dropped  the  bottle  through  the  port- 
hole, hoping  that  it  might  prove  the  means  of  accounting  for 
my  fate  should  I  never  be  heard  of  again. 


94  TffE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

This,  together  with  my  searching  the  cabin,  had  occupied 
my  mind  ;  now  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  my  spirits  sank  to 
the  very  degree  of  suicide.  What  was  to  happen  ?  What 
baseness  in  the  eye  of  Heaven  had  I  been  guilty  of  that  I 
should  be  forced  into  these  abrupt  and  tragic  experiences  ? 
First,  I  sail  away  in  a  brig  that  is  to  be  wrecked  ;  next  I  am 
carried  ashore  and  thrown  over  the  edge  of  a  cliff  a  hundred 
feet  high  ;  I  lose  all  my  money  and  effects  ;  then  I  suifer  all 
the  miseries  of  loneliness  and  hopelessness  upon  a  desert 
island, 

No  classic  roamer  but  a  shipwreckt  man  ; 

and  no  sooner  has  the  wheel  gone  round  and  I  am  comfortable 
and  happy  again,  earning  good  pay,  living  in  the  company  of 
the  best  and  kindest  shipmate  I  ever  sailed  with,  behold  !  I  am 
brought  into  this  ship,  made  a  prisoner  of,  and  sailed  away 
with  presently  to  meet  with  Heaven  alone  knows  what  dread- 
ful end  ! 

Thus  ran  my  thoughts  as  I  stood  scowling  in  a  fit  of  suicidal 
dejection  through  the  porthole  at  the  sea.  The  wind  had 
briskened  since  I  came  aboard  ;  the  vessel  was  leaning  under 
a  press  of  canvas  ;  the  heel  of  her  was  sharp  enough  to  lift  the 
porthole  above  the  horizon,  and  I  saw  nothing  but  the  sky  all 
adrift  and  flying  east  and  south,  so  nimbly  poured  the  clouds, 
white  and  small,  and  shining  like  mother-of-pearl.  There  was 
a  great  noise  of  washing  waters  under  the  porthole,  with  quick 
shattering  falls  of  brine  leaping  from  the  slope  of  the  metaled 
bends.  The  vessel  was  swarming  through  it  at  about  nine 
knots.  I  guessed  the  wind  nor'nor'west  by  the  telltale,  and 
again  looking  at  that  compass  I  saw  they  had  headed  the  ship 
within  the  hour  upon  a  course  a  little  west  of  south. 

From  time  to  time  during  that  afternoon  I  fancied  I  heard 
the  voices  of  women.  Once  I  seemed  to  catch  a  laugh  in  the 
clear  notes  of  a  girl  just  overhead.  Sometimes  the  sounds 
were  as  though  groups  of  women  stood  at  a  distance  talking 
earnestly.  I  put  all  this  down  to  imagination,  helped  by  the 
mimicry  of  the  wind,  whose  whistling  of  laughter,  song,  and 
chatter  in  the  rigging  would  reach  me  through  the  cabin 
window. 

The  hour  was  six  by  the  light  when  the  door  was  beaten  for 
the  second  time  that  day.  Brigstock  entered.  I  looked  past 
him,  expecting  others  ;  he  was  alone.  He  held  his  straw  hat 
in  his  hand,  and  his  whole  demeanor  and  aspect  were  formal, 
decent,  and  respectful.  His  dark  hair  was  smoothed  upon  his 
head  as  though  soaped  ;  it  was  parted  on  one  side,  and  the 


TRAPPED.  95 

division  was  peculiarly  white,  broad,  and  defined.  He  had 
something  of  a  psalm-singing  look  about  him,  and  my  instant 
thought  was  of  Fletcher  of  Bristol. 

I  was  exceedingly  agitated,  though  I  sought  to  compose  my 
face  into  a  stern  look.  I  folded  my  arms  and  demeanored 
myself  as  an  outraged  man  ;  but  my  spirits  ran  very  low,  for 
when  I  saw  Brigstock  I  thought  to  myself,  What  has  he  come 
to  say  ?  What's  to  be  my  fate  ?  I  was  a  prisoner  in  this  ship, 
unarmed,  friendless,  helpless,  and  the  men's  need  of  my  serv- 
ices, the  services  to  be  rendered,  and  the  story  of  the  vessel 
herself  were  yet  to  be  learnt. 

Brigstock  shut  the  door,  and,  looking  at  the  tray,  exclaimed, 
"  I  hope  you  han't  been  neglected  ?  I  directed  that  you  was 
to  be  seen  to.  We've  been  carrying  on  to  run  your  bark 
below  the  sea,  and  my  hands  have  been  full  what  with  keeping 
a  lookout  and  other  matters." 

"  Is  the  bark  out  of  sight  ? "  said  I. 

"  Oh,  why,  yes,  sir,"  he  answered  in  his  slow,  grave  way. 
"  Out  o'  sight  ?  What's  that  poor  old  barge  a-going  to  do  with 
a  hull  built  on  the  lines  of  this  here  vessel  ?  '* 

"  What's  your  name  ? " 

"Thomas  Brigstock,  sir." 

"  I  remember." 

"And  yourn  ?" 

"  Charles  Morgan.  Mr.  Brigstock,  what  motive  have  you 
in  carrying  me  off  in  this  fashion  ?  " 

"  A  little  patience,  sir.  I  know  it's  hard,  but  it'll  all  come 
right.  If  the  scheme  don't  fit  your  own  notions  to  a  hair  I'm 
no  man.  Such  a  choice  as  there  is — saving,  of  course,  this  : 
perhaps  you're  married  ? " 

"  I  don't  understand  you.  Explain  your  reason  for  imprisdh- 
ing  me.  Where's  this  ship  bound  to  ?  What  was  your  object 
in  telling  me  about  the  plague,  and  the  four  survivors  of  a 
large  company,  and  of  your  being  homeward  bound  from 
Madras  with  a  cargo  of  sugar  ?  And  what  do  you  mean  to  do 
with  me  ? "  I  added,  speaking  with  heat,  and  looking  at  the 
fellow  with  a  face  of  temper  that  was  no  longer  a  counterfeit. 

"  It  was  necessary  to  stoop  to  a  lie,"  answered  Brigstock 
coolly  and  leisurely.  "  We  tarned  the  matter  over,  and  all 
agreed  there  was  no  help  for  it  ;  a  lie  must  be  told.  Well,  it 
is  told.  There's  several  kinds  of  lies :  one,  the  harmless 
sort ;  no  man's  ever  the  worse  for  being  told  it." 

"What's  become  of  your  captain  ?  " 

"You  shall  hear  all  about  that,  Mr.  Morgan." 

"And  your  mate  ?" 


96  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"All  about  that  too,  sir." 

"  How  many  mates  do  you  carry  ? " 

"  All  about  it,  all  about  it,  with  a  little  waiting,"  he  exclaimed. 
"  Now,  sir,  as  you're  to  be  master  of  this  vessel,  allowing  that 
you're  capable  of  navigating  her,  which  I  don't  doubt,  it's  not 
for  us  to  keep  you  any  longer  locked  up  here.  That  'ud  be 
mutiny." 

So  saying,  he  threw  open  the  door,  and  held  it  in  an  attitude 
significant  of  his  wish  that  I  should  pass  out. 

I  did  so,  and  found  myself  in  an  elegant  little  cuddy,  painted 
white  and  gold,  and  furnished  with  cushioned  lockers  and  a 
short  row  of  handsome  chairs  on  either  side  the  length  of  rich, 
dark,  highly  polished  table.  The  after  end  of  that  table  was 
cut  so  as  to  embrace  the  shaft  of  the  mizzenmast,  a  solid  white 
column,  elaborately  fluted  and  picked  out  with  gold.  I  had 
seldom  viewed  a  prettier  interior. 

What  I  have  described  I  saw  in  a  quick  look  around  after 
stepping  out ;  now,  standing  at  the  table,  I  gazed  forward, 
and  the  sight  I  beheld  so  astounded  me  that  my  reason  could 
scarcely  credit  the  report  of  my  eyes. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY. 

THE  cuddy  front  was  furnished  with  a  central  door  and  two 
windows  on  either  hand  of  it.  Door  and  windows  were  wide 
open;  the  decks  were  visible  through  them  to  the  forecastle; 
imagine  my  amazement  when  I  beheld  those  decks  crowded 
with  women! 

At  the  first  look  there  seemed  two  hundred.  Groups  stood 
about  in  eager  talk  ;  many  came  and  went  at  the  door  and 
windows,  peering  in  and  then  passing  on.  All  were  in  motion, 
with  few  exceptions — a  perpetual  shifting  and  dissolving  of 
small  mobs  of  females.  Now  in  good  truth  could  I  hear  the 
voices  of  women! 

Glancing  up,  I  spied  the  faces  of  several  females  looking  at 
me  through  the  open  skylight.  They  wore  shawls  and  hats  and 
bonnets,  and  were  mostly  young,  it  seemed  to  me  then — both 
the  skylight  lot  and  those  out  on  the  main  deck.  Brigstock 
and  I  had  the  cabin  to  ourselves.  I  stared  at  him  with  a 
frown  of  astonishment  and  inquiry.  Of  course  I  was  too  old 
a  hand  to  wonder  where  these  women  had  sprung  from  ;  they 
had  been  kept  in  the  drenching  heat  of  the  'tween  decks,  the 


BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY.  97 

hatches  on,  tarpaulined  and  battened  down,  that  the  ship 
might  look  a  plain  cargo  carrier,  while  Brigstock  answered 
Blades  across  the  water,  and  lied  to  me  about  the  plague  and 
the  vessel's  lading. 

"  Who  are  those  people  ?"  said  I. 

"  Emigrants,"  answered  Brigstock.  "  There  are  ninety  of 
them,  and  there's  twelve  of  us  males.  One  hundred  and  two 
souls  in  all  a-washing  about  without  a  navigator,  and  nothing 
to  depend  on  but  the  heye  of  Providence." 

"Why,"  cried  I,  rounding  upon  him  passionately,  "did  you 
not  tell  my  captain  the  truth  ?  He  would  have  seen  you  to 
some  place  of  safety — put  me  aboard  to  keep  the  ship  in  the 
bark's  company." 

A  slow,  peculiar  smile  worked  over  his  face  like  a  succession 
of  ripples  on  water.  The  mirth  was  out  of  his  eyes  while  the 
grin  was  still  on  his  lips. 

"  Will  yer  sit  down,  Mr.  Morgan,  and  I'll  give  you  the 
whole  yarn  ?  "  said  he. 

I  went  to  the  table  and  sunk  upon  a  chair.  A  number  of 
women  were  now  clustered  at  the  skylight,  and  groups  were 
constantly  coming  and  going  at  the  door  and  windows,  paus- 
ing to  stare,  and  then  they'd  walk  away,  talking  quickly, 
making  room  for  others. 

Brigstock,  turning  up  his  eyes  at  the  skylight,  exclaimed  : 
"  You're  a-keeping  the  air  out,  ladies.  'Sides,  the  poop  aint 
yourn  now  that  the  ship's  got  a  capt'n.  Do,  like  kind,  good 
people,  step  down  on  the  quarter-deck,  will  yer,  and  leave  room 
for  that  there  skylight  to  let  in  wind  ?  " 

"  If  there's  a  captain  come  on  board  will  he  tell  us  if  ever 
we're  to  get  to  Orstralia  ? "  cried  a  young  woman  in  an  old 
bonnet  and  shawl,  with  a  club  nose,  and  a  rather  merry  cock 
in  her  blue  eye. 

"Aye,  aye;  it'll  be  all  right  now— it'll  be  all  right  now," 
exclaimed  Brigstock  soothingly.  "  Do,  like  good,  kind  peo- 
ple, go  away  forward,  will  yer,  ladies  ?" 

"  If  you  calls  yourself  a  man,"  cried  a  gypsy-faced  young 
woman,  black  and  red  and  curly,  with  bright  eyes  and  white 
teeth,  "you'll  tell  the  new  capting  the  mischief  you  intends  us, 
as  how  we're  not  to  reach  Australia  at  all,  but  to  be  put  into 
an  ilyand " 

"  That  aint  true,"  cried  Brigstock,  "  and  you  knows,  Miss 
Dolly  Johnson,  while  jer're  saying  of  it  that  it  aint  true.  I've 
got  jer  name.  I  knows  you.  I've  arsted  jer  more'n  wance  to 
be  civil.  Everything's  right  in  this  ship.  Our  meaning  '11  be 
plain  to  the  new  captain  shortly.  Won't  jer  go  away,  then  ?  " 


98  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Captain,  I  wish  you  would  let  us  know  what's  to  become 
of  us,"  exclaimed  a  pale  dark  girl  in  a  languid  voice,  dressed 
in  a  round  velvet  hat  and  a  jacket  ;  she  had  the  look  of  a 
housemaid  or  a  dressmaker  ;  as  she  leaned  into  the  skylight 
her  rather  pretty  figure  was  peculiarly  graceful  in  its  uncon- 
scious posture  of  entreaty  and  alarm. 

I  was  too  puzzled  and  bewildered  to  make  answer.  It  was 
not  only  the  eyes  of  perhaps  a  dozen  girls  now  staring  down 
at  me,  one  over  another's  shoulder,  through  the  large  open 
skylight:  the  women  on  the  main  deck  were  crowding  the 
doorway  and  the  windows,  talking  swiftly  among  themselves, 
now  and  again  a  voice  lifting  into  shrillness  as  though  urging 
another  to  speak  out ;  this  sudden  confrontment,  I  say,  of 
women's  faces  above  and  women's  forms  below  was  enough 
to  scatter  the  wits  of  a  man  who  a  little  while  before  had 
never  guessed  that  there  was  more  than  sailors  aboard,  who 
had  not  set  eyes  on  a  woman  for  weeks,  and  who  at  any  time 
was  never  much  at  his  ease  in  the  company  of  a  number  of 
the  sex. 

"  So  you  won't  go  ? "  cried  Brigstock  with  energy,  but  with- 
out temper.  "  Mr.  Morgan,  I'll  be  back  in  a  minute  or  two." 

He  went  on  deck  and  bawled  for  Isaac  and  Jupe  and  Bill 
and  Joe  and  one  or  two  others  to  lay  aft.  Most  of  the  women 
at  the  skylight  then  went  away  ;  among  those  who  stayed 
was  the  gypsy-faced  girl.  She  screeched  down,  "  Captain, 
sail  us  to  Orstralia,  please.  We're  female  emigrants  going  out 
to  take  situations.  We're  all  respectable  girls,  and  some  of  us 
is  ladies.  The  sailors  aint  got  no  'ed,  and  they  talk — and 
they  talk " 

By  this  time  some  of  the  men  had  come  on  to  the  poop. 
"  Now,  ladies,  if  you  please,"  one  of  them  exclaimed.  In  a  few 
moments  the  skylight  was  empty  of  faces,  but  the  gypsy-like 
girl's  voice  rang  out  as  she  went  forward  ;  others  swelled  their 
pipes  high  in  cackling  choruses  of  fear,  wonder,  temper.  As 
the  skylight  women  drained  off  the  poop  on  to  the  main  deck, 
the  crowds  there  gathered  about  them.  A  couple  of  seamen 
stood  sentry  at  the  skylight — they  stared  down  hard  at  me, 
who  sat  just  under.  Others  cleared  the  entrance  door  forward 
and  kept  the  windows  free,  through  which  I  watched  a  scene 
strange  and  wild  indeed  to  light  upon  in  mid-ocean — seventy 
or  eighty  women,  mostly  young,  attired  in  as  many  ways  as 
there  were  people,  a  few  in  black,  most  in  gay  colors.  The 
ship  was  going  along  smoothly,  heeled  by  the  breeze  ;  on  the 
slope  of  the  planks  the  women  stood  crowding  around  the 
main  hatch  and  mainmast,  filling  the  deck  to  the  bulwarks  on 


BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY.  99 

either  hand,  flourishing  their  arms,  chatting  with  fire,  their 
hands  upon  their  hips,  some  appearing  to  spit  their  thoughts  at 
one  another  in  cockfighting  attitudes,  nose  to  nose,  as  they 
talked.  A  few  hung  silently  apart,  and  they  were  mainly  the 
soberly  dressed  women. 

I  did  not  command  the  whole  scene,  but  what  I  beheld 
through  the  door  and  windows  was  an  amazing  picture  of 
female  passions,  almost  startling  with  the  abounding  life  in  it, 
so  vivid  were  all  colors  in  the  light  of  the  red  sun,  so  dramatic 
and  ceaseless  the  postures  and  movements,  so  vital,  too,  the 
whole  with  the  quickening  spirit  put  into  it  by  the  play  of 
shadows  flung  by  the  rigging,  and  the  sensation  of  swiftness 
coming  out  of  the  roar  of  parted  and  passing  waters,  and  the 
marble-hard  curves  of  the  straining  canvas. 

Brigstock  came  leisurely  down  the  companion  steps.  He 
laid  his  hat  upon  the  table  and  seated  himself  abreast  of  me. 

"  Never  yet  met  a  woman,"  said  he,  "  whose  tongue  wasn't 
slung  in  the  middle  for  both  ends  to  wag  at  wunst.  Talk. 
There's  that  Dolly  Johnson,  as  her  name  is.  Start  her  and  it's 
like  sticking  a  gimlet  into  a  full  cask.  But  women's  man's 
weaker  vessels,  and  must  be  borne  with." 

"What  about  this  ship  ?"  said  I,  staring  him  full  in  the 
face.  "  Why  am  I  kept  here  ? " 

He  slowly  looked  up  at  that  part  of  the  upper  deck  which 
was  pierced  by  the  shaft  of  the  mizzenmast,  and  pointed  to  it. 

"  D'jer  see  that  smudge  there,  sir,  as  though  the  stuff  had 
been  coated  with  charcoal  ?  " 

It  was  as  if  the  spar  had  been  lanced  with  fire,  chiseled 
deep,  but  fine,  then  blackened  with  the  smoke  of  a  blast  of 
gunpowder.  I  had  not  before  observed  those  marks.  They 
ran  down  abaft  the  mast,  winding  toward  the  table. 

"  That  spar's,  been  struck,"  said  I. 

"  Right,  sir,"  he  answered,  with  a  slow  drop  of  his  head. 
"  The  master  of  this  vessel  was  Captain  Halcrow,  her  chief 
mate  was  Mr.  Billing,  the  second  officer  was  termed  Mr. 
Jeremy  Latto,  the  bo'sun  of  the  ship  was  called  Cox,  and 
there  was  Dr.  Rolt,  a  medical  gent,  in  charge  of  the  emigrants. 
One  day  the  capt'n,  Dr.  Rolt,  and  Mr.  Billing  were  sitting  at 
dinner  at  this  table.  The  captain,  as  it  might  be,  was  there. 
Here,  opposite  him,  sits  Dr.  Rolt.  Alongside  the  medical 
gent  was  Mr.  Billing.  I  had  come  aft  to  put  a  screw  into 
that  skylight,  and  looking  down  saw  the  three  gentlemen  at 
their  lunch  as  I've  described.  I  went  forward  to  get  a  small 
screwdriver.  It  was  a  very  heavy  day.  The  hatmosphere 
seemed  full  of  smoke,  long  sleeping  lines  of  it.  The  horizon 


100  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

was  thick  as  dust,  and  the  muck  overhead  hung  in  heaps  close 
down  to  the  trucks,  as  if  nothen  but  our  mastheads  kept  their 
bellies  from  bustin'.  The  royals  and  to'gallan*  s'ls  were  off 
her,  the  mainsail  hauled  up.  The  second  mate  had  charge  of 
the  deck.  Everything  had  been  quiet  while  this  weather  was 
a-brewing.  I  never  heard  a  single  note  of  thunder  out  in  the 
gloom,  and  the  water  was  like  a  looking-glass,  with  a  large 
heave  of  swell  running  through  it  from  the  south'ard.  I'd  just 
got  to  my  cabin,  which  I  shared  with  the  bo'sun — in  that  port 
wing  o'  fo'c's'le,"  said  he,  pointing  forward,  "  when  there  was 
a  traymendious  flash  of  lightning,  followed  by  such  a  roar  of 
thunder  that  I  actually  thought  the  ship  was  splitting  into 
pieces  under  foot.  Someone  yelled,  '  We've  been  struck ! ' 
Just  then  out  rushes  the  mate  from  the  cuddy,  bellowing  like 
a  cow  for  it's  calf,  and  flourishing  his  arms  as  if  he  was  gone 
clean  mad.  While  a  number  of  us  was  running  aft  there  was 
a  second  traymendious  flash,  and  another  roar  of  thunder  like 
to  what  went  before,  only  louder,  and  down  comes  the  rain  in 
a  living  sheet. 

"  What  had  happened  ?  When  we  ran  into  the  cuddy  we 
found  Dr.  Rolt  lying  over  the  table  dead  as  a  chisel.  The 
captain  was  standing  up  with  his  hands  over  his  eyes.  'Oh! 
I'm  struck  blind  ! '  he  was  crying.  '  Oh,  I'm  struck  blind  !  ' 
You  can  see  how  it  happened.  Here  they  sat,  and  the  light- 
ning falling  maybe  down  the  topsail  sheets  strikes  through  the 
mast  coat,  and  kills  one  man  and  blinds  another." 

I  got  up  and  walked  to  the  mast  to  look  again  at  the  marks. 
They  were  the  work  of  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  given  two 
men  sitting  close  against  the  spar  on  either  hand  it,  what  more 
conceivable  than  that  one  should  be  killed  and  the  other 
blinded  ? 

I  returned  to  my  seat.  By  this  time  others  of  the  ship's 
company  had  gathered  at  the  skylight,  and,  glancing  up,  I  found 
myself  closely  scrutinized  by  some  half  dozen  sailors.  Others 
who  kept  the  women  clear  of  the  doors  and  windows,  con- 
stantly directed  their  eyes  our  way. 

"  Well,  sir,"  continued  Brigstock,  "  we  buried  poor  Dr.  Rolt, 
and  the  body  of  a  kinder  man  was  never  tossed  overboard  by 
sailors.  You  should  have  heard  him  read  the  sarvice  on  Sun- 
days !  and  I'd  never  ask  for  a  beautifuller  sermon  than  he'd 
give  us.  The  captain,  having  lost  his  sight,  was  of  no  use. 
There  was  nobody  to  tell  him  what  to  do  to  get  his  eyes  again. 
He  kept  his  cabin  and  Mr.  Billing  took  charge,  but  we  soon 
saw  that  things  was  going  wrong  with  the  mate's  intellects. 
It  might  have  been  the  helectricity ;  it  might  have  been  the 


BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY.  IOI 

seeing  a  man  struck  dead  just,  maybe,  as  he  was  opening  his 
mouth  to  talk ;  something  had  happened  that  was  too  much 
for  his  reason,  which  I'm  bound  to  say  was  never  to  be  classed 
A  i  in  Natur's  Registry  o'  Brains.  He'd  call  a  man  aft, 
look  strangely,  and  forget  what  he'd  sung  out  to  him  to  come 
for.  I'd  take  notice  of  a  wildness  in  the  poor  chap's  eyes,  and 
wance  bid  the  bo'sun  observe  it,  and  Cox  he  saw  it. 

"  He  came  on  deck  one  middle  watch,  and  before  two  bells 
was  struck  all  hands  was  called.  What  for  ?  Because  Mr. 
Billing  had  chucked  himself  overboard.  So  help  me  'Oly 
Writ,  which  I  read  and  believe  in,  it's  the  truth  I  sit  here 
a-telling  you,"  said  Brigstock,  slowly  putting  his  great  brown 
hand  down  upon  the  table,  and  solemnly  inclining  his  head  at 
it  three  or  four  times  in  silence.  "  'Twas  the  man  at  the 
wheel  saw  Mr.  Billing  cast  himself  into  the  sea,"  he  continued 
after  a  pause,  during  which  I  had  closely  watched  his  face, 
convinced  by  this  examination  that  he  was  talking  facts. 
"  He  gave  the  alarm,  as  it's  called.  The  ship  was  brought  to 
the  wind  and  a  boat  sent  away  with  the  bo'sun  in  charge  of 
her.  There  was  some  moonlight,  too  much  to  miss  the  ship 
by,  too  little  to  find  the  man  with.  They  searched  long,  for 
the  mate's  was  a  valuable  life,  then  returned  and  we  proceeded. 

"It  got  about  that  the  captain,  much  the  same  as  Mr  Bil- 
ling had,  was  beginning  to  show  some  weakness  in  his  senses. 
The  news  had  come  along  by  the  steward.  We  onderstood  he 
meant  to  transship  himself  at  the  first  chance.  It  looked  bad 
that  a  capt'n,  though  blind,  should  abandon  his  ship.  Why  didn't 
he  order  the  second  mate  to  carry  the  vessel  to  a  port  ?  Because 
in  my  opinion  the  second  mate  wanted  command  himself,  and 
worked  upon  the  feelings  of  the  afflicted  commander.  Be 
struck  blind,  sir,  and  let  the  stays  of  your  hintellect  fall  slack, 
and  it's  odds  if  the  first  designing  chap  as  comes  along  don't 
find  jer  an  easy  prey.  The  steward  'ud  tell  us  that  he'd  look 
in  on  the  capt'n  and  find  him  with  tears  on  his  cheeks.  He 
overheard  the  poor  man  tell  Mr.  Latto — that  was  the  second 
mate's  name — that  he  wanted  to  get  back  to  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren ;  if  his  sight  wur  gone  he  was  a  ruined  man,  he  said  ;  he 
must  get  home  quickly  and  put  himself  in  the  hands  of  the 
doctors  while  there  was  a  shot  in  the  locker  to  pay  'em  with, 
and  the  second  mate  kept  on  recommending  that  he  should 
go,  taking  the  first  ship  for  home  that  'ud  receive  him. 

"  It'll  be  ten  days  ago  to-day  that  we  spoke  a  vessel  called 
the  Sovereign^  from  Bombay  for  London.  We  hove  to  within 
hail,  and  Mr.  Latto  talked  with  her  master.  They  had  a  doc- 
tor aboard,  but  he'd  hurt  his  leg  and  couldn't  leave  the  vessel, 


102  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

so  the  captain  invited  Mr.  Latto  to  bring  our  commander  to 
his  ship  that  the  doctor  might  look  at  his  eyes,  and  tell  him 
whether  he  might  keep  all  on  or  whether  he  ought  to  retarn 
home  for  a  hoperation.  Poor  Captain  Halcrow  was  handed 
over  the  side  ;  Mr.  Latto  he  got  in.  The  bo'sun  Cox  he  went 
along  too.  He  was  troubled  with  something  wrong  inwardly, 
and  there  being  no  doctor  in  this  ship,he  asked  Mr.  Latto's  leave 
to  get  the  advice  of  the  surgeon  of  the  Sovereign.  They  left 
me  in  charge  of  this  vessel ;  though  I'm  signed  on  here  as  car- 
penter I  must  tell  you  that  I'm  an  able  seaman  likewise,  also 
sailmaker,  and  was  mate  of  a  coaster  three  voyages,  but  I 
know  nothing  about  navigation. 

"  It  was  blowing  a  steady  good  breeze  when  the  boat  put  off 
that  morning.  It  was  a  little  afore  noon.  On  a  sudden  it 
piped  up  in  a  squall  that  whitened  the  water,  though  I  could 
see  nothen  for  more  wind  to  come  out  of  than  there  was  before. 
The  sea  began  to  jump  just  as  though  there  was  a  volcanic 
heruption  at  work.  This  vessel  lay  down  to  the  blast,  and  we 
let  go  and  clewed  up,  but  the  main  topsail  was  aback.  I  saw 
that  the  yard  must  be  swung  if  the  spar  was  to  stand,  and  I 
put  my  helm  up,  never  doubting  that  the  Sovereign,  seeing  our 
situation,  'ud  follow  with  our  boat  till  we  brought  the  ship  to 
again. 

"  To  cut  this  yarn,  sir  :  the  breeze  hardened  into  half  a  gale 
afore  two  bells  ;  all  to  windward  it  was  thick  as  muck.  We 
reefed  topsails  and  brought  the  ship  to,  but  t'other  vessel  was 
out  of  sight  by  this  time.  She'd  faded  in  the  thickness  as  yer 
image  disappears  in  ruffled  water.  Some  of  our  men  said  that 
when  they  last  saw  her  she  was  running.  If  so,  she  was  not 
making  our  course  ;  we  hove  to  and  kept  a  bright  lookout, 
but  never  saw  her  again." 

He  got  up  as  he  pronounced  these  words  and  entered  a 
cabin  two  doors  from  the  one  I  had  been  locked  up  in.  It  was 
yet  the  afternoon,  but  the  sun  was  low.  Through  the  skylight 
I  spied  many  scarlet  clouds,  speeding  fast  athwart  our  mast- 
heads. The  sailors  had  withdrawn.  One  or  two  may  have 
been  hanging  about  to  keep  the  skylight  clear  of  the  women, 
but  there  was  no  more  eager,  scrutinizing,  staring  down  at  me 
up  there. 

The  quarter-deck,  however,  continued  filling  with  young 
women.  1  heard  the  sailors  stationed  at  the  door  talking  to  a 
little  crowd  who  had  just  then  swarmed  to  the  cuddy  front  as 
though  to  a  general  impulse  of  feverish,  overmastering  anxiety 
and  curiosity.  The  hot,  blood-red  light  lay  on  them,  and  again 
J  viewed  with  amazement  that  singular  scene  of  life  and  color, 


BRIGSTOCK'S  STORY.  103 

the  continual  movement  of  female  shapes,  a  restless  coming 
and  going  of  white  and  brown  faces  and  shining  eyes,  a  stream- 
like  mingling  of  fluttering  hues  of  apparel,  the  greens  and  reds 
and  blues  of  the  feathers  and  ribbons  and  hats,  bright  as  light 
itself  under  the  arch  of  the  milk-white  staysail,  whose  clew 
curved  aft  like  the  pinion  of  a  sea  fowl. 

In  a  few  moments  Brigstock  returned  with  the  log  book  and 
a  tin  box  ;  he  put  them  on  the  table  saying,  "  You've  had  my 
yarn,  Mr.  Morgan.  Now  you'll  be  able  to  judge  of  the  truth 
for  yourself." 

He  sat  down  with  his  slow  motion  and  sober  face  and 
watched  me.  I  opened  the  log  book  and  found  that  the  entries 
under  the  heading  of  "  Remarks  "  corresponded  exactly  with 
Brigstock's  story.  The  mate  had  kept  the  journal  down  to 
the  day  when  he  took  charge,  on  the  captain  losing  his  sight. 
Afterward  the  second  mate,  Latto,  kept  the  log  book.  This 
was  made  clear  by  the  handwriting.  The  reference  to  the  dis- 
aster in  the  cuddy  ran  thus  : 

"  The  day  opens  thick  and  heavy,  the  weather  darkening 
toward  noon  with  a  calm  sea  and  a  light  westerly  swell.  At 
one  o'clock,  while  the  captain,  Dr.  Rolt,  and  the  chief  officer 
were  at  lunch  in  the  cuddy,  the  ship  was  struck  by  lightning ; 
the  flame  cut  through  the  mast  coat  and  burst  with  an  explo- 
sion like  a  gun,  filling  the  cuddy  with  a  dazzling  violet  light. 
Dr.  Rolt  was  instantly  killed,  the  captain  was  blinded,  the 
chief  mate  sustained  a  serious  shock,  but  was  not  otherwise 
injured." 

I  looked  at  Brigstock  after  reading  this  to  myself  and  said, 
"  Here  is  the  story  of  the  lightning  stroke  just  as  you  related 
it  to  me." 

He  viewed  me  gravely  without  speaking.  I  turned  over  the 
pages  and  read  more,  all  to  the  point.  The  burial  of  Dr. 
Rolt  was  entered,  likewise  the  suicide  of  the  chief  officer — this, 
of  course,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Latto.  There  was  also 
an  entry  recording  the  death  of  the  steward  ;  this  had  hap- 
pened some  days  after  the  tragic  incident  of  the  lightning,  and 
was  probably  referable  to  it,  if,  as  was  likely,  the  man  was 
waiting  upon  the  captain  and  the  others  at  the  time.  The 
last  of  the  log-book  entries  was  dated  eleven  days  before,  sig- 
nifying, according  to  Brigstock's  statement,  the  accuracy  of 
which  I  was  now  certain  of,  that  on  the  day  following  Latto 
had  gone  in  the  boat  with  the  blind  captain  to  the  Sovereign 
and  lost  his  ship. 

"  Now  look  at  the  vessel's  papers,  sir,"  said  Brigstock, 
observing  that  I  closed  the  log  book. 


104  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

But  there  was  nothing  material  to  be  gathered  from  those 
documents  ;  all  of  interest  concerned  the  cargo.  The  vessel, 
it  seems,  was  freighted  with  stores  for  New  South  Wales  ;  the 
goods  consisted  of  agricultural  implements,  household  furni- 
ture, male  and  female  wearing  apparel,  and  the  like.  Here 
were  clearly  given  all  particulars  of  the  ship.  She  was  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  of  580  tons  registered  burden,  owned  by 
Bull  &  Johnstone  of  Fenchurch  Street,  chartered  for  this 
voyage  as  an  emigrant  vessel.  The  number  of  female  emi- 
grants was  ninety,  including  a  matron.  There  had  been 
originally  nineteen  seamen,  but  death  and  the  misadventure  of 
the  boat  had  sunk  the  number  to  twelve. 

"  Are  you  satisfied,  sir  ?  "  said  Brigstock,  with  one  of  those 
strange  smiles  which  passed  over  his  face  like  a  cat's-paw  over 
the  sea,  shadowing  but  a  part  at  a  time. 

"  Yes,  that  you've  spoken  the  truth,"  I  answered  ;  "but  that 
doesn't  leave  me  the  better  off.  Will  you  tell  me  where  you're 
bound  to,  and  what  I've  got  to  expect?" 

"  With  your  leave,"  he  answered,  "  I'll  put  these  things  in 
your  cabin." 

He  carried  the  book  and  the  box  to  the  berth  I  had  been 
imprisoned  in. 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  he,  coming  back  to  the  table  and  picking  up 
his  hat,  "  afore  I  tells  you  what  our  scheme  is,  I'd  like  you  to 
take  a  look  at  the  ship,"  and  without  waiting  for  an  answer  he 
slowly  stumped  up  the  companion  steps. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AN    UNEXPECTED    MEETING. 

A  FRESH  breeze  was  blowing  off  the  starboard  beam,  a  point 
abaft  it.  The  sky  was  red-hot  from  sea  line  to  zenith  with  the 
sunset,  and  under  the  great  orb,  poised  yet  a  few  degrees  above 
the  horizon,  the  seas  were  working  in  blood.  The  ship  had 
all  plain  sail  on  her  and  was  making  noble  progress.  Masses 
of  orange-colored  foam  broke  from  her  weather  bow,  and  over 
the  rail  to  leeward  the  race  was  a  wide  and  giddy  swirl  of 
froth,  whose  extremity  trembled  in  a  windy  sparkle  a  league 
astern  in  the  liquid  crimson,  which  down  there  overhung  the 
blue  and  breaking  surge. 

I  stood  a  minute  or  two  at  the  companion  looking  up  and 
around  to  see  what  the  picture  was  like.  This  was  a  fine  little 
ship,  her  decks  sand-white,  brass  and  glass  and  paint  work 


AN   UNEXPECTED  MEETING.  105 

bright  and  gleaming,  everywhere  a  finish  as  of  yacht-like  pre- 
cision in  smallest  details,  such  as  the  grating  abaft  the  wheel, 
the  boat  fittings,  the  compass  stands,  and  so  on.  Her  short 
poop  was  handsomely  railed  at  its  break  with  brass,  where  a 
row  of  trim  buckets  were  neatly  fitted.  A  central  flight  of 
steps  led  to  the  quarter-deck. 

A  couple  of  seamen  patrolled  the  weather  side  of  the  poop  ; 
one  of  them  was  the  dark,  high-colored,  fisherman-looking 
fellow  ;  the  other  a  middle-aged  man  after  Brigstock's  build 
and  looks,  with  a  sour  curl  of  lip,  and  a  pair  of  large  globular 
gray  eyes,  the  left  lid  with  a  droop  that  painted  a  leer  upon 
his  countenance.  This  man  I  reckoned  was  looking  after  the 
ship  in  Brigstock's  absence,  while  the  other  might  have  been 
one  of  the  men  who  had  kept  the  skylight  clear.  They  halted 
in  their  pendulum  walk  on  wheeling  round  and  seeing  me  on 
deck. 

Brigstock  exclaimed  :  "  Our  new  capt'n,  Joe  ;  Bill,  the  new 
capt'n,"  on  which  both  men  flourished  a  thumb  at  their  fore- 
heads. 

They  were  attired  in  the  clothes  they  had  shipped  with,  Joe 
in  a  fur  cap  and  a  worn  monkey  jacket ;  the  other  in  the  togs 
of  the  sailor  end  of  London.  Joe  had  the  appearance  of  the 
master  of  a  collier,  sturdy,  sour,  and  self-sufficient.  Their 
attire  made  me  suspect  that  Brigstock — that  he  might  enjoy 
his  temporary  command  of  the  ship  up  to  the  hilt — had  clothed 
himself  in  garments  left  behind  by  the  captain  or  mates. 

"Joe's  been  hacting  as  chief  officer,"  said  Brigstock,  "but 
the  duty  han't  amounted  to  much  more'n  keeping  a  lookout. 
He'll  do  well  as  second." 

I  glanced  at  the  men,  but  said  nothing.  Small  wonder  that 
the  Caroline  should  have  been  quickly  run  out  of  sight  in  such 
a  breeze  as  this.  Her  round  bows  might  thunder  out  eight 
with  half  a  gale  of  wind  at  her  stern,  but  here  was  a  clipper 
ship  with  lines  for  an  easy  twelve  as  the  wind  now  blew,  rear- 
ing such  spacious  heights  as  she  did,  everything  aloft  fitting 
to  perfection,  everything  set  with  the  critical  care  and  eye  of 
true  seamanship,  not  an  inch  of  the  lustrous  cloths  but  was  doing 
its  work.  Yes,  the  Caroline  had  long  ago  faded  out  of  sight 
like  the  honest  old  cask  that  she  was  ;  and  then,  again,  the  sea- 
men of  this  vessel  had  headed  her  on  a  course  that  was  not 
Blades',  whose  thoughts  would  not  be  of  chasing,  but  of 
reporting. 

I  walked  to  the  break  of  the  poop  and  looked  along  the 
decks.  I  supposed  the  women  had  supped  ;  there  was  no 
coming  and  going  in  the  galley,  at  whose  door  three  or  four 


106  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

seamen  lounged,  smoking  and  staring  aft  at  me.  The  decks 
were  not  so  full  as  they  had  shown.  Probably  half  of  the 
emigrants  were  below,  yet  those  visible  made  a  goodly  num- 
ber as  they  hung  here  and  there  in  groups  or  restlessly  walked. 
It  is  women's  apparel,  I  suppose,  that,  by  filling  the  eye,  seems 
to  swell  a  mob  of  twenty  of  them  into  the  bulk  of  forty  men. 

I  stood  looking,  wondering  what  was  to  be  the  issue  of  this, 
the  latest  of  my  extraordinary  adventures.  Brigstock  came 
and  posted  himself  beside  me.  The  man  Joe  resumed  his 
walk,  and  the  dark,  high-colored  Bill  went  forward.  I  took 
notice  that  many  of  those  whom  I  viewed  were  young  women 
ranging  from  eighteen  to  perhaps  thirty  years  of  age.  Most 
had  the  looks  of  what  you  would  call  upper  servants  ;  others 
suggested  the  shop  and  the  workroom.  Here  and  there  was 
a  refined  face.  They  all  seemed  in  good  health,  as  though 
picked  for  the  most  part,  and  well  treated  since  they  had  been 
in  the  ship. 

The  main  hatch  lay  open  with  a  single  grating  across  it.  A 
few  girls  were  seated  on  the  coamings  of  the  hatch,  but  they 
got  up  when  they  saw  me,  and  then  all  the  women  seemed 
sensible  of  my  presence  at  the  same  moment ;  every  face  was 
upturned ;  a  pale  girl  with  dark  eyes,  clothed  in  a  hat  and 
well-fitting  jacket,  stepped  to  under  the  spot  where  I  stood, 
and  cried  out  with  an  hysterical  clearness  and  loudness  of 
voice  : 

"  If  you  are  the  captain  will  you  please  tell  us,  sir,  what's  to 
become  of  us  ?  " 

"  Lady,"  answered  Brigstock,  leaning  over  the  rail  and 
speaking  with  the  gravity  of  a  man  in  the  pulpit,  "  it's  not  in 
the  captain's  power  to  answer  that  question,  and  why? 
Because  he  dorn't  yet  know  himself  what  our  plans  are." 

"  But  we  know  what  your  plans  are,"  cried  the  girl,  looking 
around  her  as  though  she  would  summon  others  to  form  up 
and  help  her  with  their  presence.  "  They  talk,  captain,  of 
choosing  wives  out  of  our  number  and  settling  in  an  island, 
and  there's  them  in  this  ship,"  she  went  on,  with  a  scowl  on 
her  white  brow  as  she  looked  around  her,  "  as  are  base  and 
vile  enough  to  accept  the  sailors'  offers.  Oh,  sir,"  she  cried, 
lifting  her  hands  and  raising  her  voice  into  a  harsh,  unmusical, 
wailing  note,  "  if  you  are  a  gentleman,  as  we  see  you  are, 
you'll  sail  us  to  the  country  we're  embarked  for.  We're  many 
as  wishes  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  sailors  and  who  scorns 
the  silly  notion  of  an  island." 

•'  Mr.  Brigstock,"  said  I,  "  has  told  you  the  truth  so  far  as  I 
am  concerned.  I  have  no  notion  as  yet  of  the  men's  inten- 


AN   UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  107 

tions.  Do  you  know  how  I  was  brought  into  this  ship? 
What's  expected  of  me  I've  yet  to  hear.  But  one  thing  I  hope, 
indeed  I  am  sure  of :  whatever  the  designs  of  the  sailors  may 
be,  no  mischief  is  intended  you — nothing  worse,  let  me  believe, 
than  a  delayed  voyage.  Am  I  right  ?  "  I  said,  turning  upon 
Brigstock. 

"  They  know,"  he  answered,  spreading  his  square-ended 
fingers  toward  the  quarter-deck  as  though  he  blessed  the  crowd 
of  up-lookers,  "  that  no  harm's  meant.  Yer'll  larn  all  pres- 
ently, Mr.  Morgan,  but  I  wanted  jer  to  take  a  look  round 
fust." 

At  this  moment  I  became  conscious  of  being  intently 
watched  by  a  girl  who  stood  alone  at  the  bulwarks  abreast  of 
the  main  hatch.  Strange  that  one  out  of  the  many  females 
who  were  staring  at  me  should  catch  and  fix  my  eye  !  I 
looked  and  looked  again  with  growing  wonder.  I  said  to 
myself,  "  Where  have  I  met  that  girl  ?  "  She  wore  a  black  and 
white  straw  hat  with  a  black  ribbon  round  it,  and  was  dressed 
in  black  ;  her  plain  robe  fitted  her  so  as  to  yield  to  the  sight 
most  of  the  graces  of  her  figure.  Enough  daylight  yet  lived 
to  see  clearly  by.  I  stretched  my  neck  and  screwed  my  brow 
to  distinguish  the  girl  ;  observing  this  she  bowed  and  smiled, 
and  with  some  color  in  her  face  came  along  to  the  poop  ladder. 

Not  until  she  had  reached  the  foot  of  the  ladder  did  I  recog- 
nize her.  It  was  Kate  Darnley  ! 

In  a  moment  I  ran  down  to  catch  her  hand  and  bring  her 
on  to  the  poop  deck. 

"  Heaven  preserve  us !  "  I  exclaimed,  regarding  her  with 
amazement  ;  in  truth  I  was  so  entirely  capsized  by  this  sudden 
encounter  that  I  forgot  how  to  behave  myself.  "What  on  earth 
are  you  doing  here  ?" 

"It  is  an  extraordinary  meeting,"  she  answered,  with  a  great 
deal  of  color  still  in  her  cheeks.  "  What  should  I  be  here  but 
an  emigrant  ?  But  to  find  you  in  the  ship  !  " 

I  glanced  at  Brigstock,  who  had  stepped  aside  on  my  bring- 
ing Kate  Darnley  up  the  ladder  :  he  was  viewing  us  with  com- 
placency. His  mind  lay  plain  in  the  face  :  he  was  glad  I  had 
found  a  friend  among  the  women  ;  the  discovery  would  recon- 
cile me  to  my  situation,  perhaps.  The  women  on  the  main 
deck  looked  and  talked  in  asides ;  curiosity  was  strong  in 
their  countenances,  and  many  of  them  were  smiling. 

"  Well,  I'm  junked  !  "  said  I.  "And  yet  I  remember  now 
you'd  sometimes  talk  a  bit  darkly  of  emigrating.  I  recollect 
certain  questions  you  put  to  me  when  we  stood  one  day  watch- 
ing a  streak  of  sea  past  ten  miles  of  mud." 


io8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  I  was  without  friends  and  I  declined  to  starve,"  she 
answered,  speaking  quickly,  "  but  I  never  bargained  for  this." 

I  led  her  aft.  When  the  man  named  Joe  saw  me  coming  to 
the  weather  side  of  the  poop,  which  is  the  ship's  dignity  walk, 
the  place  for  the  commander  when  he's  on  deck,  everybody 
saving  the  passengers  giving  it  a  wide  berth  then,  he  crossed 
to  leeward,  joined  Brigstock,  and  they  paced  athwart  ships. 
Many  of  the  women  went  some  distance  forward  to  watch  us, 
of  such  importance  in  the  dullness  of  the  sea  is  any  trifle  which 
rises  above  the  nothings  of  the  everyday  life  spent  upon  it. 

"I  scarcely  now  credit  my  eyesight,"  said  I.  "Your  face 
brings  up  Blathford,  and  I  smell  the  sweets  of  the  old  garden 
again,  and  we're  on  the  river  watched  by  cows  and  sheep 

instead  of — instead  of But  you  are  looking  well.  Are 

not  you  plumper  than  you  were  ?  But,  great  guns  !  what  a 
situation  to  find  you  in  !" 

She  kept  her  dark  eyes  fastened  upon  me  while  I  rattled  on. 
Her  color  had  gone,  but  it  brightened  again  in  a  soft  suffus- 
ing bloom  when  I  talked  of  the  sweets  of  the  garden  and  our 
river  jaunts. 

"  I  am  as  astonished  as  you  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  It  is  a 
wonderful  meeting.  But  then  I  have  been  watching  you  for 
some  time,  and  my  surprise  has  not  the  freshness  of  yours. 
Have  you  been  wrecked  ?  Did  the  sailors  find  you  in  an  open 
boat  that  you're  here  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  know,"  said  I,  "  that  this  morning  a  bark  named 
the  Caroline  was  spoken  by  this  ship  and  her  mate — myself — 
courted  on  board  by  the  most  artful  infernal  lie  ever  uttered 
by  a  respectable  pious  seaman  ?" 

"  All  I  know  is  this,"  she  answered  :  "  a  vessel  was  sighted 
this  morning,  and  when  it  was  understood  she  was  steering 
for  us  the  sailors  told  us  to  go  below,  and  covered  up  the 
hatches,  and  there  they  kept  us  for  three  or  four  hours  till 
some  of  us  were  nearly  dead  with  the  heat  and  vile  air." 

I  now  told  her  my  story,  afterward  going  back  to  my  start 
from  Bristol,  and  working  through  my  adventure  down  to  that 
morning.  She  listened  with  eyes  large  with  wonder  and  inter- 
est, sometimes  uttering  exclamations  at  the  more  tragic  parts, 
as  Fletcher's  throwing  me  off  the  cliff.  By  this  time  the  sun 
was  gone,  the  shadow  of  the  night  was  upon  the  sea,  the  stars 
were  shining  brightly,  and  there  was  a  piece  of  red  moon 
down  in  the  southeast.  The  wind  blew  strong,  and  the  ship 
was  roaring  through  the  darkness,  throwing  a  faintness  as  of 
twilight  upon  the  atmosphere  round  about  her  out  of  the  foam 
she  hurled  to  left  and  right. 


AN   UNEXPECTED  MEETING.  109 

"  Capt'n,  she's  a  bit  pressed,"  called  out  Brigstock  from 
the  break  of  the  poop  ;  "shall  we  hease  her  of  the  royals  and 
mizzen  t'garn  s'l  ?" 

"  I  am  no  captain  of  yours,"  I  sung  back.  "  There's  some- 
thing to  be  said  and  heard  before  I  take  that  post  here." 

"  That'll  be  as  soon  as  ever  you're  ready  to  step  below, 
sir,"  he  answered,  as  respectfully  as  any  man  could  wish  to  be 
addressed  by  another  ;  then  spoke  to  Bill,  who  called  out 
orders  to  clew  up  and  stow  the  light  sails  just  named. 

"  I  hope  you'll  take  command  of  the  ship,"  said  Kate  Darn- 
ley.  "  What  otherwise  is  to  become  of  us  ?  The  sailors  have 
some  wild,  dangerous  scheme  in  their  heads  of  choosing  wives 
from  the  women  on  board  and  settling  upon  an  island." 

"  They've  been  reading  about  the  mutiny  of  the  Bounty,  I 
suppose,"  I  exclaimed,  not  very  credulous  of  what  she  told  me. 

"They've  found  women,"  she  went  on,  "willing  to  accept 
them  as  husbands,  and  to  settle  with  them." 

"What!  since  you  lost  sight  of  the  Sovereign  with  your 
blinded  captain  in  her  ? " 

"  I  suppose  so.  The  men  had  very  little  to  say  to  the  girls 
when  Dr.  Rolt  was  alive." 

"  In  ten  days  the  Jacks  have  worked  out  a  scheme  of 
marriage  and  colonization  !  I'll  hear  Brigstock's  yarn. 
What  part  of  the  ship  do  you  occupy  ?  " 

"  The  'tween  decks  with  the  rest  of  them." 

"  I'll  have  you  out  of  it  and  put  you  into  a  cabin  aft.  You 
have  a  fine  spirit  to  start  all  alone  on  a  bread  hunt  t'other 
side  the  world.  You've  no  friends  in  Australia,  I  know." 

"  None.  But  I  had  no  idea  either  of  starving  in  England, 
Mr.  Morgan. 

"You  called  me  Charlie  at  Blathford." 

"And  I'll  call  you  so  here,"  she  answered,  "but  we've  not 
met  for  many  months,  and  this  sort  of  meeting  is  being  like 
introduced  afresh." 

"So  it  is.  But  still  you'll  call  me  Charles  for  auld  lang 
syne,  and  you  shall  be  Kate.  I'll  tell  you  why  :  if  I  take 
command  here,  the  ship  certainly  must  be  navigated,  and  I 
guess  I'm  the  only  one  that  can  do  it.  I  shall  be  able  to 
make  you  comfortable  without  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the 
'tween  decks  or  the  criticism  of  the  forecastle  by  letting  every- 
body suppose  you're  a  connection  of  mine,  or  if  not  that,  an 
old  and  intimate  friend." 

"  But,"  said  she  after  a  pause,  during  which  she  had  caught 
hold  of  my  arm  to  steady  herself,  for  on  a  sudden  the  breeze 
had  freshened  in  a  shrieking  gust,  tilting  the  angle  of  the 


no  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

deck  into  a  sharp  slope,  and  setting  Joe  roaring  out  to  the 
men  to  clew  up  the  fore  topgallant  sail  and  to  take  in  other 
canvas,  "  but  what  will  you  do,"  said  she,  "  if  the  men  insist  on 
carrying  out  their  scheme  ?  " 

"  I  must  learn  their  plans  from  their  own  lips  before  I  can 
answer  your  question." 

Just  then  the  shape  of  a  woman  showed  darkly  on  the  poop 
ladder.  The  moon  made  very  little  light.  Her  wake  was  a 
short  scope  of  broken,  leaping  silver  ;  the  stars  shone  finely, 
yet  it  was  a  dark  night,  though  clear,  with  swift  gleamings  of 
the  cold  fires  of  the  sea-glow  in  the  black  ridges  ere  they 
broke. 

"  Is  that  you,  Miss  Darnley  ?  "  called  out  the  woman,  stand- 
ing on  the  poop  ladder. 

The  girl  answered  yes. 

"  It's  eight  o'clock,  please." 

"  All  right,"  returned  Kate.  "  We're  supposed  to  '  turn  in,' 
as  you  sailors  say,  at  eight,"  she  added. 

The  woman  disappeared. 

"  Who  was  that  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Miss  Cobbs,  the  matron,"  she  answered. 

"  Do  they  still  carry  out  what  was  done  in  Dr.  Roll's  time  ? " 
said  I,  walking  slowly  with  her  toward  the  ladder. 

"  Nearly.  Meals  are  served  at  the  same  hours,  and  we're 
called  below  by  the  matron  at  eight — the  time  was  seven  at 
first." 

"  I'm  glad  to  hear  that,"  said  I.  "  It  speaks  well  for  the 
crew.  There's  no  head — you  can't  talk  of  Brigstock  as  a 
head — and  yet  the  rules,  of  Roll's  contrivance,  I  presume,  are 
as  much  in  force  as  when  he  was  aboard." 

"  I'll  say  this,"  she  exclaimed  in  a  low  voice,  for  the  man 
Joe  paced  near  us  while  we  halted  a  moment  or  two  at  the 
head  of  the  poop  ladder  :  "  the  men  so  far  have  behaved 
with  perfect  propriety.  I  have  not  heard  a  complaint.  Good- 
night. We  shall  meet  to-morrow,  I  hope." 

"I'll  see  you  to  your  door,"  said  I,  and  accompanied  her  to 
the  main  hatch,  down  which  I  watched  her  descend. 

A  middle-aged  woman  stood  on  the  lower  deck  looking  up. 
I  rightly  supposed  her  to  be  the  matron.  The  ladder  that 
sank  to  the  'tween  decks  was  a  wide  flight  of  white  wood  steps 
with  a  single  handrail.  A  dim  sheen  of  swinging  lamps  came 
sifting  to  this  large  yawn  of  hatch — large  despite  the  two  grat- 
ings which  were  now  upon  it,  and  the  crowding  heel  of  a  wind- 
sail  whose  white  leg  was  blowing  like  an  escape  of  steam  to 
the  mad  swaying  of  the  outstretched  phantasmal  head  of  it. 


AN"   UNEXPECTED  MEETING.  ill 

Kate  looked  up  with  a  smile  and  passed  out  of  sight,  and  I 
walked  to  the  cuddy  with  a  design  of  calling  for  some  supper. 

All  the  women  were  apparently  below  ;  the  decks  ran  for- 
ward dark  and  deserted,  but  I  saw  the  figures  of  seamen  in 
the  fore  shrouds  against  the  stars  coming  down  from  furling 
the  topgallant  sail,  and  I  heard  the  voices  of  men  aloft  stow- 
ing staysails,  and  the  calling  of  men  on  the  forecastle  to  others 
out  on  the  jib  boom.  The  cuddy  was  in  darkness.  I  sang 
out,  supposing  there  might  be  somebody  about  or  in  the 
pantry.  Brigstock  was  busy  with  the  ship  on  deck,  the  man 
Joe,  as  I  reckoned,  having  gone  forward  to  help  the  watch. 

I  entered  the  captain's  cabin,  and  feeling  on  the  shelf  found 
the  matches,  and  lighted  the  bracket  lamp  in  the  berth,  then 
the  cuddy  lamp.  The  pantry  was  next  to  the  captain's  cabin. 
The  lamp  swinging  abreast  threw  plenty  of  light  into  it,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  I  stepped  out  with  both  hands  full  of  things 
to  eat — biscuits,  cold  pork,  and  a  piece  of  boiled  fowl.  I  judged 
by  these  remains  that  Brigstock  and  others  had  used  the  cuddy 
for  eating  in,  though  perhaps  not  for  sleeping  in.  I  sought 
again  in  the  pantry  for  something  to  drink,  and  found  a  vinegar 
jar  with  a  drain  of  rum  in  the  bottom  of  it.  There  was  noth- 
ing more  in  the  shape  of  spirits,  and  no  beer,  but  the  rum 
made  me  a  drink  when  I  mixed  it  with  fresh  water  from  a 
decanter  in  a  bracket  over  the  cuddy  door. 

The  lee  lid  of  the  skylight  lay  open,  and  while  I  was  eating 
Brigstock  put  his  head  through  and  called  down  :  "  Ye're 
right  to  make  yourself  at  home,  sir.  There's  more  wind 
a-coming,  I  think,  and  I'm  waiting  to  get  the  mainsail  off  her 
before  I  join  you." 

I  gave  him  a  nod,  and  went  on  eating. 

The  state  of  a  man's  mind  is  a  tedious  thing  for  another  to 
read  about,  but  even  though  I  had  the  wish  to  weary  you  I 
should  be  little  able  to  express  the  confusion  of  my  thoughts 
while  I  sat  lonely  in  that  cuddy,  supping.  The  sailors  were 
hoarsely  bawling  on  deck,  the  wind  was  whistling  and  groan- 
ing and  hooting  like  a  theater  full  of  maddened  people,  and 
the  white  seas  poured  from  the  cleaving  stem  of  the  driven 
ship  in  a  sound  like  thunder.  I  had  grown  tolerably  familiar 
with  my  new  extraordinary  situation  ;  my  talks  with  Brig- 
stock,  my  view  of  the  ship,  had  made  a  pretty  real  thing  of  it  to 
me ;  the  dreamlike  character  it  had  taken  at  first  was  passed. 
Yet  now,  when  I  thought  of  Kate  Darnley,  the  whole  passage 
seemed  a  wild,  romancing  vision  again,  something  I  should 
awaken  from  to  find  myself  with  Blades,  or  even  with  Cadman, 
and  all  between  sheer  nightmare. 


112  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

However,  I  began  to  see  clearly  after  I  had  swallowed  the 
rum  and  eaten  some  food.  It  was  certain  I  was  in  the  power 
of  the  crew,  and  that  was  to  be  kept  steadily  in  mind  by  me, 
as  assuredly  it  would  be  by  them,  in  all  that  was  going  to  pass 
between  us.  But  I  bit  the  salt  pork  with  the  savageness  of  a 
wolf  when  I  thought  of  the  trick  Brigstock  had  played  me,  the 
lies  he  had  told,  the  indignity  of  my  imprisonment,  his  inso- 
lent indifference  to  my  rights  and  convenience.  Then  with 
the  fancy  of  Kate  Darnley  all  became  dreamlike  again. 

By  and  by  the  noise  of  men  up  aloft  and  on  deck  ceased  ; 
the  ship,  eased  of  the  pressure  on  high,  took  the  seas  buoy- 
antly, with  now  and  again  a  sharp,  hail  like  rattle  forward  when 
a  weather  lurch  of  her  forging  bow  flung  a  bucketful  of  brine 
crisply  inboard.  I  heard  Brigstock  call  to  Joe  ;  a  few  faces  of 
seamen  now  showed  and  vanished  at  the  black  cuddy  windows. 
Presently  Brigstock  came  down  by  way  of  the  companion,  and 
shaking  a  shower  of  crystals  off  his  coat,  he  chucked  his  hat 
down  and  said,  "  I  hope  you  found  all  you  wanted,  sir?" 

"  I  have  done  very  well." 

"There's  young  Gouger  as'll  be  willing  to  help  aft  here 
when  things  get  settled,"  said  he.  "  Yer  read  about  the 
steward  in  the  log  book,  didn't  jer  ?  Gouger  can  lay  a  cloth 
and  bring  a  dish  from  the  galley,  and  that's  nigh  all  that's 
wanted.  Did  jer  find  anything  to  drink  ? " 

"  A  drain  of  rum." 

"  We  broke  out  a  cask  of  bottled  ale  a  clay  or  two  ago. 
There's  some  left  in  that  cabin,"  said  he,  pointing.  "Shall  I 
fetch  you  a  bottle  ?  " 

"  No,  thanks.     But  I'd  be  glad  of  a  pipe  of  tobacco." 

He  pulled  out  a  clasp  knife  and  a  plug  of  Cavendish,  then 
going  to  the  cuddy  door,  he  called  to  a  man,  waited  till  he  had 
done  his  errand,  then  returned  with  a  clean  clay  pipe.  While 
I  was  chipping  a  pipeful  of  the  black  tobacco  into  the  palm 
of  my  hand  he  said  : 

"Mr.  Morgan,  will  you  set  us  a  true  course?  This  sort  of 
sailing's  mere  rambling." 

"Where  are  you  bound?"  I  exclaimed,  coolly  striking  a 
wax  match  and  lighting  my  pipe. 

"  To  put  it  straight,"  he  replied,  with  the  merest  shadow  of 
hesitation  in  his  manner,  "  we're  going  for  the  South  Pacific." 

"  What  part?     The  South  Pacific's  a  big  ocean." 

"  Well,  it  mayn't  be  the  South  Pacific  either  ;  it  might  come 
to  what  we  want  a-lying  north  o'  the  equator.  But  anyhow, 
all  this  aside  :  our  course  is  for  the  Horn,  Will  you  make  it 
true  ? " 


AN   UNEXPECTED  MEETING.  113 

I  instantly  resolved  to  do  so,  since  nothing  could  possibly 
come  of  stipulating  at  this  moment,  up  here,  too,  on  the 
equatorial  verge  of  the  South  Atlantic,  seeing  how  the  man's 
determination  pointed.  I  pulled  off  the  soft  gray  wide-awake 
and  the  slop  jacket  I  had  come  aboard  in,  and,  going  to  the 
captain's  cabin,  overhauled  the  chart  bag  and  found  a  track 
chart  of  the  world.  This  was  good  for  my  purpose.  I  recol- 
lected the  situation  of  the  Caroline  at  noon  on  the  preceding- 
day,  and  could  guess  the  present  position  of  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  close  enough  to  save  me  bothering  with  the  stars. 

When  I  came  into  the  cuddy  with  the  chart  and  a  pair  of 
compasses  I  found  three  seamen  besides  Brigstock  standing  at 
the  table.  They  were  bare-headed,  and  saluted  me  respect- 
fully. 

"  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  Brigstock,  "  these  men  don't  ask  your 
pardon  for  being  here,  though  there'll  be  no  intrusion  upon 
you  when  once  the  horcler  and  procedure  of  the  voyage  is  set- 
tled. We  view  ourselves  in  the  light  of  a  republic  ;  every 
man's  as  good  as  his  shipmate;  but  of  course  all  are  resolved 
for  the  gen'ral  welfare  to  obey  orders  and  behave  theirselves 
as  men.  More'n  a  man  there's  no  need  to  be  in  this  here 
world.  This,"  said  he,  pointing  to  the  active,  wiry,  crumple- 
faced  young  fellow  with  the  large  mustache,  who  was  at  the 
wheel  when  I  came  into  the  ship,  "  is  Isaac  Coffin  ;  this  here," 
he  continued,  pointing  to  a  fat,  staring  sailor  with  pig's  eyes 
and  hanging  chops  like  a  monkey's  bags,  "  is  Jupe  Jackson  ; 
and  that  man,"  indicating  the  dark,  high-colored  fisherman 
fellow,  "  is  Bill  Prentice — three  out  of  twelve  of  us.  The  port 
watch  has  gone  below.  These  men  attend  on  behalf  of  the 
ship's  company.  You  want  our  yarn  and  we  want  your 
sarvices." 

He  pulled  a  globular  silver  watch  from  the  band  of  his 
breeches,  starting  it  with  an  effort,  and  bringing  it  out  like  a 
cork,  and  looked  slowly  and  gravely  upon  it  as  it  lay  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand  on  a  level  with  the  bottom  button  of  his 
waistcoat.  "  It's  a  little  arter  one  bell,"  said  he.  "  Well,  it 
can't  take  us  long  to  square  this  here  circle,  and  the  ship's 
a-going  along  snug  enough.  Will  you  give  us  a  true  course 
for  the  Horn,  Mr.  Morgan  ?  " 

"  Hold  this  chart  open,"  said  I. 

I  made  my  calculations  and  named  the  course  S.  W.  by  S., 
guessing  that  that  would  do  till  I  had  found  the  ship's  true 
position.  Brigstock  stumped  with  his  solemn  gait  up  the 
companion  steps,  from  the  top  of  which  he  roared  out,  "  How's 
her  head  ? " 


114  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

An  indistinguishable  reply  like  a  half-smothered  bark  came 
dimly  to  my  ear.  It  happened  that  the  course  I  had  given  was 
the  course  within  a  quarter  of  a  point  the  ship  was  being 
steered  on  ;  there  was  no  need,  therefore,  to  handle  the  braces. 
Brigstock  came  to  the  table. 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  he,  "  if  you'll  be  good  enough  to  sit  down, 
I'll  tell  you  exactly  what  us  men's  intentions  are." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BRIGSTOCK'S  SCHEME. 

I  SAT  as  requested,  lighting  my  pipe  afresh  ;  the  tobacco, 
being  thick-cut  and  damp,  yielded  a  long  smoke.  I  felt 
nervous  on  a  sudden.  But  the  swing  of  the  lamp  threw  a  fre- 
quent shadow  over  my  face,  which  I  knitted  into  a  hard, 
resolved  expression,  a  thing  not  difficult  to  manage  when  you 
have  plenty  of  eyebrows  and  slack,  sailorly  hair  upon  the  brow, 
and  when  there's  no  hurry  to  speak  or  act. 

The  others  did  not  offer  to  sit;  they  stood  in  the  light 
watching  me  or  Brigstock,  who  leaned  with  one  hand  upon  the 
table,  and  leisurely  and  gravely  motioned  with  the  other  while 
he  addressed  me. 

"  Perhaps,"  said  he,  "  it'll  be  best  to  say  right  off  what  our 
scheme  is.  There's  a  good  many  little  islands  in  the  South 
Pacific  unowned  and  uninhabited.  Some  lies  near  the 
hequator,  some  in  more  temperate  climes,  where  the  air's 
sweet  as  new  milk,  where  little  or  no  clothes  is  wanted,  and 
where  there's  a  whole  boilin'  of  a  Covent  Gard'n  Market  in 
one  hacre  o'  soil.  Think  of  what's  to  be  found  and  cultivated: 
fish  and  cocoanuts  and  burnaneys  and  breadfruit,  vihapples, 
oranges,  sugar  cane,  yams,  and  sweet  potatoes.  Aint  that 
good  enough  ? " 

He  looked  slowly  round  at  the  three  men,  who  responded 
with  an  emphatic  nod. 

"  Nature  is  man's  father  and  mother.  She  gives  him  bam- 
boos for  bricks,  and  the  cocoanut's  his  rum  cask  and  his  oil 
can.  Us  men's  scheme  is  to  choose  a  good,  unowned  island 
down  in  them  seas,  and  settle  upon  it  along  with  certain 
females  in  this  vessel  who've  agreed  to  be  our  pardners  in  the 
undertaking." 

He  paused  to  observe  the  effect  of  this.  I  sucked  my  pipe 
and  eyed  him  in  silence,  head  back  and  arms  folded. 

"  Of   course   you're   aware,"  he   continued,   "  that    there's 


BRIGSTOCK'S  SCHEME.  US 

nothen  original  in  our  scheme  ?  Others  have  hacted  in  a  like 
way,  and  they've  proved  the  glory  of  Britannia,  as  witness  the 
United  States  of  America,  which  was  long  a  dependency  of  our 
nation  ;  also  Australia  and  Port  Louis  ;  Berkeley  Sound  was 
colonized  twenty  odd  years  ago  by  Lieutenant  Smith  and  six 
or  seven  seamen,  who  built  houses  and  growed  radishes,  onions, 
and  flowers.  Yer'll  have  heard  of  the  Spanish  colonel  as  set- 
tled one  of  the  Galapagos.  He  called  it  Floriado.  When  I 
was  off  it  in  1838  the  population  had  rose  to  three  hundred. 
They  sold  us  fowls  and  pigs,  and  they  growed  maize  and  sugar. 
Had  they  been  English  they'd  ha'  throve.  That  there  colonel 
was  an  old  fool.  'Stead  of  colonizing  with  steady,  hard-workin' 
respectable  gells  like  them  we've  chose,  he  loads  out  o'  the 
gutter,  manures  his  rock  with  everything  that's  godless  in  pet- 
ticoats in  Guyaquil,  then  takes  and  plants  a  shipful  of  prison 
weeds  in  the  choice  soil  and  tarns  in  to  dream  of  'arvest. 
You're  not  going  to  get  any  building  to  stand  upright  long  on 
mud  and  slime.  Mix  your  scheme  with  the  vartues  if  you 
wants  good  concrete  and  a  solid  foundation.  Aint  that  right  ? " 

The  seamen  looked  as  though,  having  on  former  occasions 
expressed  their  opinion  on  this  point,  they  considered  the  ques- 
tion addressed  to  me.  By  this  time  I  had  judged  that  Brig- 
stock  was  a  man  who  enjoyed  hearing  his  own  voice,  who 
also  had  a  high  opinion  of  his  flow  of  language — one  of  your 
respectable,  mulish,  perhaps  religious  seamen,  sullen,  slow, 
and  stiff,  with  obstinate  and  absurd  convictions,  but  of  rude 
powers  of  mind,  and  capable  of  influencing,  at  all  events,  such 
sailors  as  I  might  judge  composed  the  remainder  of  the 
original  crew  of  this  ship.  But  I  also  perceived  that  he  had 
the  forecastle  project  very  clearly  defined  in  his  brain,  and 
that  I  was  called  upon  to  deal  with  a  man  who  had  made  up 
his  mind. 

"  Your  intention,"  said  I,  "  is  to  settle  an  island — when 
you've  discovered  something  that  suits  you — in  the  South 
Pacific  ? " 

"  South  or  north." 

"  You  have  found  women  among  the  emigrants  willing  to  go 
ashore  and  live  with  you  ?" 

"  That's  so." 

"  Are  all  hands  cf  you  agreed  in  this  ? " 

"  To  a  man,  sir,"  he  answered  with  solemn  energy. 

"  How  many  females  do  you  intend  to  take  ashore  with  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  twelve,  to  be  sure — a  wife  for  each  man,"  he  answered 
in  a  raised  voice,  slightly  accented  by  indignation,  and  some 
blood  colored  his  face. 


Il6  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  What  do  you  mean  to  do  with  the  ship  and  the  rest  of  the 
people  ?" 

"  We've  given  that  our  serious  consideration,"  said  he. 
"The  ship's  not  to  be  hurt.  The  safety  of  the  females  left 
aboard  has  to  be  provided  for.  Mr.  Morgan,  here's  our  offer  : 
navigate  us  to  the  island  that  '11  suit  us  ;  the  ship's  then  yourn 
to  do  what  you  like  with.  D'yer  ask  who's  to  work  her  ? 
Who  but  Kanakas,  which  we'll  put  jer  in  the  way  oi  filling 
your  fo'c's'le  with  before  we  part." 

The  secret  fears  I  just  now  called  "  nervousness  "  were  by 
this  time  changed  into  tingling  astonishment.  It  was  clear, 
anyhow,  no  villainy  was  intended — nothing,  I  mean,  that 
might  correspond  in  rascality  with  the  stratagem  that  had 
brought  me  into  the  ship.  The  fat  seaman  whom  Brigstock 
called  Jupe  Jackson  exclaimed  in  a  queer  female  voice  : 

"  How  are  we  to  know  that  the  capt'n  mayn't  fancy  our 
scheme  and  be  willing  to  settle  down  along  with  us  ?  " 

"  Ha!  Why,  of  course,"  said  Brigstock,  "should  you  arter 
a  bit  see  your  way  to  make  one  of  our  colony,  Mr.  Morgan — 
and  I  notice  you've  already  found  a  party  on  board  as  might 
be  glad  to  take  up  with  yer — then  it'll  be  for  us  to  consider  in 
what  way  the  ship  and  the  remaining  females  are  to  be  sent 
to  a  port." 

"There's  a-plenty  of  whalers  as  'ud  be  glad  to  take  the  job 
in  hand,"  exclaimed  the  man  Bill  Prentice. 

"  Wives  for  the  askin'  and  piles  o'  salvage  money  to  keep 
'em  on,"  said  the  wiry  mustachioed  seaman  Isaac  Coffin.  "  If 
whalemen  han't  changed  since  I  went  a-fishing  they'll  need 
no  coaxing." 

"  Do  I  understand,"  said  I,  "  that  after  you  and  the  women 
who  accompany  you  are  landed  you'll  hand  this  ship  with  her 
cargo  and  remaining  passengers  over  to  me  to  sail  to  a 
port  ?  " 

"  To  do  what  jer  like  with,  I  said,"  answered  Brigstock. 

"It's  onderstood,"  said  Coffin,  "that  we  takes  out  of  her 
what  o'  the  cargo  our  colony  '11  need  ?  " 

"  They'll  send  a  gunboat  to  carry  you  home  and  lag  you 
for  piracy  and  other  crimes  if  you  meddle  with  the  goods  in 
this  ship,"  I  exclaimed. 

"  I'm  not  of  that  opinion,"  said  Brigstock  after  a  pause. 
"We'll  have  a  claim  on  the  ship  for  wages.  'Stead  of  taking 
our  earnings  up  in  money  we  pays  ourselves  off  in  goods. 
Where's  the  piracy  ?  Put  us  twelve  men's  wages  together  say 
for  four  months,  and  call  the  amount  fifty  pound  a  month. 
There's  then  two  hundred  pound  a-howing.  We  don't  want 


BRIGSTOCK' S  SCHEME.  II? 

cash  ;  we  takes  it  out  in  goods.  D'jer  call  that  piracy  ?  Let 
the  owners  send  our  wages  to  the  people  the  goods  are  con- 
signed to.  That's  my  way  of  looking  the  job  over  fair  from 
crown  to  heel." 

I  searched  his  face  as  he  leaned  across  the  table  to  dis- 
cover by  any  twinkle  of  eye,  by  any  twitch  of  mouth  or  curl 
of  lip,  that  he  knew  he  talked  nonsense.  But  his  countenance 
was  as  fixed  and  sedate  with  mulish  and  monkey-like  com- 
placency as  though  it  had  been  a  figurehead  likeness  of  him. 
I  had  no  intention  to  argue. 

"  Did  you  men  sail  from  London  with  this  scheme  in  your 
head  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  No.  It's  come  along  of  our  washing  about  here  with 
nothen  to  do,  and  talking  with  the  women,"  answered  Brig- 
stock. 

"  In  less  than  ten  days'  time  all  twelve  hands  of  you  have 
lighted  upon  this  fancy  of  a  little  Pacific  commonwealth  ?  " 

"  Commonwealth's  the  word,  and  a  good  word  it  is,"  said 
Brigstock,  glancing  with  a  leer  at  his  mates.  "  Aye,  it's  all 
come  in  ten  days,  and  the  job's  as  ready  for  launching  as  if  it 
had  been  in  hand  ten  year." 

"  Are  any  of  you  married  men  ? "  said  I. 

"  Joe  Harding's  got  a  wife  knocking  about  somewhere  at 
home,  I  onderstand,"  answered  Brigstock,  seating  himself. 
"  But  if  his  yarns  are  true  she's  not  a  sort  of  party  that  any 
right-minded  man  would  allow  himself  to  be  hindered  by  in 
detarmining  to  become  one  of  the  fathers  of  a  new  constitoo- 
tion." 

"  Does  the  woman  who  is  willing  to  become  his  partner  know 
he  is  married  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Sartingly.  I  asked  Bill  here  to  find  out,  and  she  said  Joe 
had  told  her  at  wanst." 

"  Do  you  expect  to  find  a  clergyman  on  your  island  ? "  said  I. 

"  I  onderstand  your  meaning,"  he  answered,  smiling  slowly 
and  gravely  at  Jackson.  "  It's  agreed  that  I'm  to  be  president. 
The  president  of  a  republic  combines,  as  the  sayin'is,  the  func- 
tions of  the  priest  as  well  as  the  magistrate.  What's  a  parson 
at  home  ?  They  aint  all  made,  jer  know,  by  what's  called  con- 
secration. My  powers  as  a  priest  '11  be  the  same  as  any  shore- 
going  parson,  whether  he's  consecrated  or  whether  he  aint. 
Why  ?  Because  I  shall  be  helected  by  the  voice  of  the  com- 
munity whose  hinterests  I'm  to  represent,  so  that  whatever  I 
do  '11  be  the  expression  of  their  minds.  My  hacts  '11  be  law. 
Why  ?  Because  they'll  be  the  construin'  of  the  meaning  of  the 
people.  I  can  marry  'em  and  I  can  divorce  'em.  It  was  done 


1 1 8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

down  at  Pitcairn  and  at  Tristan,  and  it  stands  good.  Every 
nation  makes  laws  for  itself.  D'jer  disput  'em  ?  Then  it's  for 
the  police  t'  find  out  why  jer  do.  That's  how  we've  put  it  to 
the  females  here.  They  become  as  lawfully  the  wives  of  the 
men  I  marry  'em  to  as  though  the  Harchbishop  of  Canterbury 
had  settled  along  with  us  and  read  the  sarvice.  So  when  we 
gets  ashore  I  divorces  Joe  Harding  from  the  woman  he's  left 
behind  him.  He's  satisfied,  and  his  pardner's  agreeable. 
Therefore,  Mr.  Morgan,  the  customs  and  laws  and  regulations 
of  what  you  rightly  call  our  commonwealth  having  been  estab- 
lished, what's  the  difference  in  principle  between  my  divorcing 
of  Joe  and  his  being  divorced  by  a  judge  in  England  ? " 

The  fat  seaman  Jupe  listened  with  a  stupid  face  of  staring 
attention  ;  Bill  and  the  others  followed  the  speech  with  snig- 
gering appreciation.  For  my  part  I  was  amazed  by  the  man's 
gabbling  fluency,  which  I  was  forced  within  myself  to  own  was 
not  wanting  in  sense  either. 

"  I  don't  think,"  said  he,  regarding  me  earnestly,  and  feeling 
in  the  breast  pocket  of  his  coat,  "  that  my  views  are  to  be 
heasily  upset.  Settle  a  shipload  of  men  and  women  upon  an 
island,  and  the  laws  they  make  for  themselves  are  the  laws 
of  their  country,  which  all  who  visit  them  must  respect.  Aint 
that  right  ?  " 

I  nodded,  wondering  now  what  the  hour  was  and  what  reso- 
lution I  must  form  with  regard  to  the  command  of  the  ship. 
It  was  blowing  with  no  more  weight,  yet  the  wind  came  hard. 
The  dance  of  the  sea  was  angry,  and  the  roaring  under  the 
bows  struck  aft  with  the  plunges  in  short  thunderous  shocks  of 
sound  like  the  bursting  of  a  sail.  The  windy  moonlight  ran 
like  a  sheet  of  white  silk  thrown  and  then  withdrawn  upon  the 
skylight  glass.  I  hardly  knew  what  sail  the  vessel  was  under, 
and  my  instincts  as  a  seaman  were  teasing  me  to  go  on  deck 
and  take  a  look  at  the  weather,  and  see  how  things  stood  with 
the  vessel. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  Brigstock,  viewing  a  spectacle 
case  he  had  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  as  though  he  could  not 
recollect  his  motive  in  producing  it.  "  we  should  very  much 
like  to  have  your  opinion  of  our  scheme,  sir  !  " 

The  seamen  looked  searchingly  at  me  :  one  as  he  lay  swing- 
ing over  the  back  of  a  chair,  the  others  as  they  swayed  side  by 
side  at  the  table;  one  with  his  hands  buried  in  his  breeches 
pockets,  the  others  with  arms  akimbo,  limbs  of  yellow  flesh 
hard  as  rocks  with  muscle,  and  garnished  with  twenty  wild  and 
barbarous  devices  in  prickings — the  crucifix,  the  mermaid,  the 
bracelet,  the  heart,  and  other  forecastle  poetic  savageries. 


BRIGSTOCK' S  SCHEME.  119 

"  My  opinion  ! "  I  echoed.  "  I'm  an  honest  man,  I  hope, 
and  you  shall  have  an  honest  ans.ver.  Your  notion  of  colon- 
izing a  South  Sea  island  is  good,  and  worth  encouraging. 
Let  British  civilization  spread  !  especially  in  waters  where  the 
black  man's  dinner  is  often  still  the  white  man.  And  you  too 
are  honest,  Mr.  Brigstock,  eh — you  and  the  remaining  ship's 
company  ?"  said  I,  looking  at  the  seamen.  "  You  don't  want 
my  opinion  on  this  project  ?  " 

"  Shouldn't  have  asked  it  otherwise,"  answered  Brigstock. 

"  Then  do  your  duty  as  English  seamen  first,"  said  I,  "  by 
which  I  mean  that  you've  got  to  see  the  women  in  your  'tween 
decks  safe  ashore  in  the  land  the  ship  sailed  for  ;  then  turn 
to  and  colonize  as  hard  as  you  can." 

Jupe  Jackson  looked  quickly  and  with  temper  in  his  little 
eyes  at  Brigstock.  Prentice  and  Coffin  spoke  together  ; 
Brigstock  lifted  his  hand. 

"  We  can't  spoil  our  plan,"  said  he  very  respectfully,  and  as 
solemnly  as  if  he  was  talking  to  me  across  a  dead  body,  "  be- 
cause your  notions  of  dooty  don't  exactly  tally  with  ourn. 
There's  twelve  of  the  females  us  men's  going  to  provide  for. 
All  the  hinconvenience  the  others  '11  be  put  to  '11  arise  from 
their  being  kept  at  sea  a  little  longer  than  they  expected. 
But  then,  d'jer  see,  afore  we  make  the  island  we  want  it  might 
happen  that  other  parties  Ml  be  glad  to  jine  us  in  a  motherly 
and  sisterly  way  to  help  in  the  work  all  around,  without,  of 
course,  considering  themselves  servants,  providing  the  pard- 
ners  we've  chose  are  agreeable.  Supposing  that :  then  here's 
a  colony  that  '11  provide  at  the  start  for  maybe  twenty  or  thirty 
females  who'd  otherwise,  for  all  jer  to  know,  come  upon  the 
poor  rates  and  raise  the  cost  of  livin'  in  Sydney.  Aint  that 
good  enough  to  keep  the  rest  who  stops  in  the  ship  a  bit 
longer  at  sea  than  they  bargained  for  ?  " 

"  It's  not  answerable  "  said  Coffin  cockily. 

"  Another  matter,"  continued  Brigstock,  putting  on  a  pair 
of  strong  magnifying  glasses,  and  standing  up  under  the  light 
to  read  from  the  side  of  an  old  newspaper  which  he  had 
drawn  out  of  his  pocket  carefully  folded  in  canvas.  "  The 
notion  of  most  of  the  parties  below,"  said  he,  stooping  his 
head  to  look  at  me  over  his  spectacles,  "  is  that  they'll  not  be 
a  week  ashore  afore  they'll  be  all  swallowed  up  in  marriage. 
I've  sounded  'em  ;  it's  their  idea.  Ninety  squatters,  a-wallow- 
ing  in  wealth,  '11  be  waiting  at  the  dockyard  gates  for  these 
females  to  land  in  order  to  court  and  carry  'em  off  to  hupcountry 
palaces.  What's  the  truth  ?  Here's  a  piece  we  found  in  a 
paper  that  belongs  to  one  of  the  men  named  Snortledge ; 


120  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I've  read  it  to  many  of  the  women.  Some  it  hinfluenced — 
twelve  sartingly,  and  perhaps  more" — he  slowly  smiled  at 
Prentice  ;  "  unfortunately  there's  but  twelve  men." 

Then,  clearing  his  throat  with  a  strong  cough,  he  read  the 
following  : 

"  Viewed  as  a  marriage  market,  New  South  Wales  must  at 
present  be  set  down  as  decidedly  and  shockingly  bad.  A 
speculative  young  woman  emigrating  without  capital  in  the 
hope  of  securing  an  establishment  for  life  will  no  more  suc- 
ceed than  would  the  young  man  without  funds  make  a  live- 
lihood by  coming  out  as  a  squatter.  The  reverses  of  the 
colony  made  men  cautious,  and  they  continue  so.  Strange  to 
say,  too,  the  well  brought  up  and  pretty  maidens  of  the  middle 
and  servant  classes  of  Sydney  do  not  appear  to  be  much 
sought  in  marriage.  Yet  it  is  undoubtedly  in  these  classes  that 
the  well-known  preponderance  of  males  exists.  The  single 
men  do  not  want  wives,  and  the  responsibilities  and  encum- 
brances of  family  life.  They  prefer  working  hard,  working  like 
slaves  for  four  or  five  days,  and  larking  the  rest  of  the  week  ! " 

He  dropped  his  head  to  look  at  me  again  over  his  spectacles. 
I  had  listened  with  attention,  for  there  was  truth  in  every 
word  of  what  he  had  delivered,  and  all  the  while  I  followed 
him  Kate  Darnley  had  run  in  my  head. 

"  It's  reasonable  enough,"  said  he,  "  that  parties  going  out 
to  a  new  country  mainly  to  get  married  should  be  quite 
willing  to  pick  up  with  respectable  men  as  they  go  along." 

He  carefully  refolded  the  newspaper,  stowed  it  away  in  its 
canvas  cover,  and  pocketed  it  along  with  his  glasses. 

"Aint  it  about  time  that  Mr.  Morgan  here  should  tell  us 
what  he  means  to  do  ? "  said  Coffin,  who  had  been  pulling 
hard  at  his  mustache,  and  making  nervous  grimaces  with  his 
eyes,  vulgarly  arch  with  looks  of  low  humor,  fastened  upon  me 
while  Brigstock  read. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered  quickly,  "  but  bear  this  in  mind  :  I've 
been  in  this  ship  since  noon  only,  and  have  but  heard  of  your 
scheme  within  the  last  hour.  I'm  not  to  be  committed  to 
a  heavy  responsibility  without  reflection.  If  I  voluntarily 
consent  to  command  the  vessel  I  become  one  of  your  number, 
and  I'd  like  to  consider  all  that  your  resolution  means  before 
I  settle  with  you." 

"  Make  no  mistake  about  one  thing,"  exclaimed  Brigstock, 
gravely  wagging  a  forefinger  at  me  :  "  when  we  was  left  help- 
less— that's  to  say,  without  a  navigator  in  this  ship — vartually 
we  were  as  much  discharged  as  though  we'd  stepped  ashore 
and  been  paid  off." 


BRIGSTOCK'S  SCHEME.  121 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  said  I. 

"Well,  then,  I'm  sure  of  it,"  he  cried  with  some  show  of 
temper. 

"  Isn't  a  ship's  crew  discharged  when  she  goes  ashore  and's 
wrecked  ?  What's  the  difference  between  a  vessel  being  hard 
and  fast  on  the  rocks  and  a  ship  like  ourn  a-washing  about 
helpless  ?  "  said  Prentice. 

"It's  as  I  say,"  continued  Brigstock.  "We've  been  dis- 
charged from  the  articles  by  what  the  underwriters  would  term 
the  hact  of  God.  We  can't  go  ashore  in  the  middle  of  the 
ocean,  can  we  ?  Then,  having  a  ship  under  our  feet,  we've  got 
a  perfect  right  to  sail  her  to  any  spot  we  may  select  as  con- 
venient to  land  on." 

This  was  a  sea  lawyer  !  one  of  your  rare  hands  who  will 
play  the  deuce  with  a  captain's  nerves,  and  just  the  sort  of 
philosopher  to  dominate  a  crew  and  make  the  sailors  see  things 
exactly  from  his  point  of  view. 

"  You  talk  of  hunting  for  an  island  in  the  Pacific,  north  or 
south,"  said  I.  "  How  long  do  you  mean  to  take  to  find  it  ?  " 

"Oh,  we'll  carry  on,  we'll  carry  on,"  answered  Brigstock. 
"  She's  got  heels,  has  this  ship.  We  shall  have  the  island 
aboard  us  in  three  months." 

"  Easy,"  exclaimed  Coffin,  with  an  impatient  twist  of  his 
wiry  figure. 

"  There  are  above  a  hundred  souls  on  board,"  said  I. 
"  You've  already  drunk  up  a  good  deal  of  your  fresh  water, 
I  guess.  What  stock's  left  ?  " 

"  Plenty,"  answered  Brigstock.  "  I  allow  that  Captain  Hal- 
crow  never  intended  to  touch  at  the  Cape.  The  stock  that's 
a-going  to  last  from  the  Thames  to  New  South  Wales  is 
a-going  to  last  from  the  Thames  to  the  South  Sea.  What's 
the  difference  ?  It'll  be  only  putting  her  off  west  'stead  of 
east  when  the  latitood's  run  down,  with  islands  to  rise  every 
morning  a  ter  a  bit  when  the  Horn's  sunk  well  astern." 

"  I  advi:  ;  you  to  count  your  gallons  over  again,  Mr.  Brig, 
stock,"  sai  I. 

"  You're  the  scholar  of  this  ship — we'll  leave  that  to  you, 
sir,"  he  answered  respectfully. 

"  I'll  give  you  a  reply  in  the  morning,"  said  I,  getting  up. 
"  I  hear  no  bells.  They  should  be  kept  going.  What's  the 
hour  ?" 

He  pulled  out  his  watch  and   answered,  "  Half-past  nine." 

I  pulled  on  my  coat  and  put  on  my  hat,  designing  a  turn  on 
deck,  for  somehow  I  felt  that  I  could  think  more  clearly  out 
in  the  wild  freedom  of  the  windy,  starry  night,  with  its  flying 


122  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

moonshine,  than  down  here  in  this  horizon  of  elegant  panels 
and  creaking  bulkheads. 

"  Let  it  stand  till  to-morrow,  then,"  said  Brigstock.  "  It's 
but  right  jer  should  have  time  to  meditate  a  bit.  Jupe,  there's 
no  rum,  and  the  capt'n  '11  be  wanting  a  nightcap.  Jump  for  a 
lantern,  my  lad.  All  the  spirits  are  in  the  lazarette,  Mr.  Mor- 
gan. The  hatch  is  padlocked  and  I've  got  the  key,  but  it's 
yourn  when  your  mind's  made  up.  You'll  see  your  way,  I 
hope?  What's  the  meaning  of  it  but  this  :  You're  to  put  us 
in  the  road  of  getting  ashore  ;  the  ship's  then  to  be  handed 
over  to  you.  I'm  no  swearer,"  he  continued  slowly  and 
deliberately,  "but  I  could  take  a  big  oath" — here  he  let  his 
heavy  fist  fall  upon  the  table — "  that  a  fairer,  straightfurruder 
offer  than  ourn  was  never  before  made  to  a  man,  and  that 
never  in  all  the  maritime  hannals  in  the  likes  of  such  a  trav- 
erse as  this  will  jer  hear  or  read  of  a  crew  of  sailormen  with 
honester  sentiments  and  uprighter  meanings  than's  in  this 
ship." 

I  nodded  that  he  might  know  I  heard  him,  and  went  up  the 
companion  steps. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    WOMEN. 

IT  was  blowing  a  topgallant  breeze.  Large  shadow-like 
wings  of  cloud  were  spreading  across  the  moon,  and  the  bright 
stars  shot  through  the  rush  of  dark  stuff  as  though  all  between 
was  a  race  of  meteors.  The  flight  of  the  ship  through  the 
night  was  a  stirringand  splendid  picture;  at  every  courtesy  she 
piled  the  water  to  her  spritsail  yard  ;  the  dusky  line  of  the 
ocean  throbbed  clear  and  hard  against  a  spectral,  airy,  green- 
ish dimness,  but  under  the  moon  the  long  black  forms  of  seas 
glanced  in  lines  of  pale  light. 

I  walked  to  the  break  of  the  poop  lost  in  thought.  The 
black  shape  of  a  seaman  trudged  to  and  fro  near  the  wheel,  at 
which  stood  a  second  figure.  The  main  hatch  windsail  was 
wildly  working  and  yawning  like  the  struggling  wearied  ghost 
of  a  giant  under  the  main  yard  ;  half  the  hatch  lay  open  as 
before,  buried  in  darkness. 

I  stood  looking  at  that  black  oblong  of  hatch,  slowly  form- 
ing a  resolution  ;  marveling  likewise,  as  with  an  undernote  of 
thought,  at  the  deep  human  significance  this  rushing  and 
streaming  ship  took  from  the  crowds  of  sleepers  in  her  blacH 


THE    WOMEN.  123 

heart.  Had  the  souls  of  the  slumberers  combined  into  a 
spirit  for  her  that  she  should  take  the  seas  in  that  spurning, 
topping,  feverish  way,  as  though  she  knew  what  her  load  was 
and  its  trust  in  her  ?  Often  had  the  ships  I'd  sailed  in  seemed 
live  things  to  me,  but  never  was  ship  so  living  as  this  that 
night  and  then. 

Half  an  hour  after  I  had  left  the  cuddy  Brigstock  came  up 
the  ladder  and  told  me  he'd  put  some  wine  and  spirits  in  the 
pantry  ;  they  were  to  be  for  my  own  private  use,  he  said  ;  he 
added  that  the  men  continued  on  their  regular  allowance  of  a 
tot  of  grog  a  day,  which  was  all  he  meant  they  should  have. 

"  When  I  starts  my  commonwealth,"  he  sung  out  to  me, 
slanting  his  figure  to  my  ear,  "  there'll  be  no  drink.  Hintoxi- 
cation  '11  stand  next  to  murder  as  a  crime.  I'm  for  mixing  the 
vartues  well  in  ;  my  scheme's  to  stand."  He  then  bawled, 
"  George  !  " 

The  fellow,  who  was  walking  aft,  came  along  the  deck. 

"  I'll  take  charge  now,"  said  Brigstock.  "This  gem'man  I 
hope  '11  be  our  capt'n  to-morrow." 

The  man  touched  his  forehead,  looking  at  me  hard  in  that 
pale  flying  light.  He  then  went  forward,  and  Brigstock  made 
a  step  as  if  he  would  have  me  join  him.  But  I  had  heard  and 
talked  enough.  In  an  offhand  way  I  said,  "  Am  I  to  use  the 
captain's  cabin  ? " 

"  Sartinly.  If  you  take  command  you'll  make  yourself  wel- 
come to  what's  inside  it,  I  hope — merely  as  borrowings  ;  every- 
thing used  can  be  handed  back  when  you've  carried  the  ship 
to  a  port.  These  here  clothes  I've  got  on  I  found  in  the  mate's 
berth.  My  own  chest's  not  well  enough  off  to  rig  me  out  in  a 
style  proper  to  command  that  sort  of  respect  which  my  situa- 
tion aboard  hentitles  me  to." 

"  Good-night,"  said  I. 

"  We  shall  have  your  answer  in  the  morning  ?  " 

"By  eight  o'clock,"  I  replied. 

I  went  straight  to  the  captain's  cabin  and  turned  the  light 
up  to  shake  the  mattress  and  look  round.  I  had  noticed  some 
boxes  of  cigars  in  the  locker  while  imprisoned  ;  I  took  one  ;  it 
was  a  good  cigar,  and  the  smoke  and  fragrance  of  it  soothed 
my  excitement. 

My  situation  was  indeed  extraordinary.  Yet  before  I  had 
quitted  the  deck  I  resolved  to  take  command,  though  to  hold 
my  peace  till  the  morning  that  my  importance  might  gain  by 
the  crew's  anxiety.  I  was  largely  influenced  by  the  presence 
of  Kate  Darnley.  But  for  that  girl  I  don't  know  that  I  should 
have  been  quick  in  deciding.  The  past  had  corne  strongly 


124  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

upon  me  while  I  considered  what  to  do  ;  I  lived  again  with  her 
at  Blathford  through  her  holiday  time  there.  She  had  passed 
out  of  my  mind  when  she  left,  but  this  sudden,  unexpected 
meeting  gave  a  sharpness  to  all  the  lines  and  tracings  of 
memory.  It  is  always  so  :  you  know  a  man  slightly  in  your 
own  country  ;  he  slips  out  of  recollection  ;  you  meet  him 
abroad,  the  farther  away  the  better  for  the  sentiment  of  recol- 
lection ;  scores  of  trivial  things  come  back,  and  there  may 
spring  up  a  lasting  friendship  between  you.  Meet  the  same 
man  at  home  and  you'd  pass  him  by. 

Kate  Darnley's  being  on  board  was  like  an  eloquent  separate 
appeal  to  me  to  take  charge  of  the  ship.  Then  there  was  the 
safety  of  the  crowd  of  poor  women  to  think  of.  I  judged  I 
had  no  need  to  fear  the  men.  The  situation  had  come  about 
quite  honestly.  There  had  been  no  violence,  no  mutiny. 
Certain  disasters  had  left  the  ship's  company  without  a  navi- 
gating head.  They  had  thought  their  condition  over  and  de- 
cided to  people  an  uninhabited  island,  of  which,  to  be  sure, 
there  was  no  lack  in  those  days  in  the  seas  they  wished  me  to 
steer  them  into.  The  women  who  had  agreed  to  settle  down 
with  them  doubtless  knew  what  they  were  doing.  What  sort 
of  lot  was  to  be  theirs  in  Australia  ?  In  a  South  Pacific  island 
they  might  flourish  into  a  free,  happy,  and  prosperous  com- 
munity. As  to  marriage  :  Brigstock  was  right  when  he  implied 
that  the  patriarchal  government  of  Pitcairn  and  Tristan  was 
all  himself  and  followers  needed.  Besides,  how  long  would 
they  need  to  wait  for  the  heroic  missionary  with  his  blessing  of 
legitimacy  ? 

Thus  ran  my  thoughts  while  I  smoked  the  cigar,  sometimes 
sitting,  sometimes  taking  a  turn  about  the  cabin,  once  opening 
the  door  to  listen,  having  caught  the  sound  of  men's  voices 
singing  out,  and  the  echo  in  the  planks  of  coils  of  gear  flung 
down.  I  never  questioned  if  I  refused  the  command  that 
Brigstock  would  get  a  navigator  by  such  another  stratagem  as 
had  decoyed  me.  And  how  would  the  crew  use  me  then  ? 
Would  they  transship  me  and  so  enable  me  to  start  the  first 
propelled  pennon  we  signaled  after  them  ? 

Being  thirsty,  I  took  a  match  and  stepped  into  the  pantry, 
where  I  found  some  bottles  of  claret  and  brandy,  and  they  had 
filled  the  vinegar  jar  with  rum.  I  knocked  the  head  off  a 
claret  bottle  and  drank  half  a  tumbler  of  the  wine  ;  it  was  a 
cool  drink  and  smelt  like  a  nosegay.  I  then  ate  the  remains 
of  the  cold  chicken,  and  thus  refreshed  went  back  into  my 
cabin,  where  I  lighted  a  second  cigar,  resolved  to  make  the 
very  best  of  the  state  I  found  myself  in. 


THE    WOMEN.  125 

Nothing  stirred  in  the  cuddy  saving  the  leaps  of  the  shadows 
with  the  abrupt  swing  of  the  lamp  when  the  ship  came  in  a 
reeling  heave  to  windward,  then  fell  along  on  the  slant  of  the 
under-rushing  sea,  with  a  forest  full  of  whistlings  and  wild 
beast  cries  in  her  rigging.  I  caught  all  sounds  through  the 
lee  open  lid  of  the  skylight,  and  knew  by  them  and  by  the  play 
under  foot  that  the  ship  was  doing  a  fair  twelve  under  the 
meteoric  dance  of  moon  and  stars  mid  the  break  of  the  sweep- 
ing shadows. 

Brightening  the  lamp,  cigar  in  mouth,  I  nicely  overhauled  a 
second  time  the  contents  of  this  sea  bedroom.  The  chronome- 
ters were  by  a  renowned  maker  ;  the  sextants  costly,  shining, 
beautiful  instruments  ;  all  the  mathematical  gear  of  the  best. 
Everything  essential  to  the  complete  equipment  of  a  navigator 
of  those  days,  when,  of  course,  the  sea  science  lacked  the  exqui- 
site mechanic  expression  it  now  possesses — though  I  allow  you 
no  more  skill  in  the  mariners  of  to-day — was  here.  Alas  !  the 
dark  hours  of  poor  Halcrow's  passage  home  would  gather  a 
deeper  dye  from  thoughts  of  his  property  gone  adrift,  perhaps 
never  more  to  be  heard  of. 

I  opened  the  log  book  and  went  through  the  entries,  and 
again  looked  at  the  ship's  papers  and  tried  to  reckon  the  value 
of  the  property  in  the  hold  from  the  particulars  I  glanced  at. 
Was  it  the  wine  or  was  it  the  imagination  inspired  by  the  con- 
tents of  the  tin  box?  It  is  sure  my  spirits  were  at  this  hour 
of  six  bells  in  a  little  dance.  By  my  heart  !  thought  I,  but 
here,  in  this  morning's  treacherous  entrapment  of  me,  have  I 
found  such  a  professional  chance  as,  not  having  the  wits  to 
conceive  it,  I  should  not  have  known  how  to  pray  for  ?  If 
I  safely  bring  this  fine  ship  to  port  what  should — what  must  be 
my  reward  ?  Surely  nothing  less  than  the  command  of  her 
next  voyage  ;  not  to  mention  my  claim  as  salvor.  And  then, 
thought  I,  there  is  Kate  Darnley.  And  then  there  is  Kate 
Darnley 

I  yawned  and  laughed,  put  out  the  light,  kicked  off  my  shoes, 
and  sprang  into  my  bunk.  Yet  wearied  as  I  had  imagined 
myself,  I  lay  awake  for  an  hour,  and  when  I  fell  asleep  I 
dreamt  that,  being  alone  with  Kate  Darnley  in  the  ship,  I 
found  Cadman  in  hiding  under  the  cuddy  table.  He  made  off 
with  Kate  in  a  quarter  boat,  and  I  gave  chase  in  the  Earl  of 
Leicester.  He  drew  me  to  the  Great  Salvage  Island,  then 
vanished,  and  the  ship  went  ashore.  I  landed,  and  the  first 
sight  I  beheld  was  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  hanging  on  a  gib- 
bet on  the  spot  of  cliff  over  whose  edge  he  had  hurled  me. 

1   was  aroused   by  the    strong   shivering    light.     Looking 


126  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

through  the  porthole  I  saw  the  long  seas,  of  a  soft  blue,  lifting 
in  flashes  and  chasing  gently  ;  the  curl  of  them  showed  a  fail- 
ing wind.  My  porthole  was  a  disk  of  brilliant  morning.  I 
peeped  into  the  cuddy  and  saw  the  ordinary  seaman  Gouger 
wiping  down  a  bulkhead.  I  asked  him  to  fetch  me  a  bucket 
of  salt  water,  and  he  complied  as  briskly  as  though  he  had 
signed  under  me. 

After  a  refreshing  soapless  sea  wash  I  pulled  on  my  slop 
wide-awake,  got  into  my  slop  jacket,  and  went  through  the 
cuddy  door  on  to  the  quarter-deck.  It  was  like  turning  a 
corner  into  a  busy  street.  Five  or  six  seamen  were  washing 
the  decks  down,  scrubbing  the  plank  and  sluicing  the  bright 
brine  out  of  buckets.  I  looked  aloft  ;  the  ship  was  clothed 
in  canvas  to  the  trucks  ;  the  yards  were  braced  a  little  forward 
on  the  starboard  tack  ;  the  weather  clew  of  the  mainsail  was  up, 
and  the  vessel,  slowly  bowing,  was  moving  like  a  body  of  sun- 
touched  vapor  over  the  waters. 

It  put  new  heart  into  my  resolution  to  take  command  when 
I  saw  how  faithfully  the  ship's  duty  was  being  carried  on, 
lords  of  themselves  as  the  crew  were ;  the  sight  gave  me  a 
high  opinion  of  Brigsto'ck's  influence  and  power  of  mind.  A 
great  number  of  women  were  on  deck — perhaps  forty  or  fifty. 
I  glanced  swiftly  here  and  there  for  Kate  Darnley.  Standing 
in  the  doorway  of  the  cuddy,  shadowed  by  the  ledge  or  break 
of  the  poop,  under  which,  exactly  over  my  head,  was  a  clock 
indicating  the  hour  of  seven  (guesswork  time,  of  course,  see- 
ing they  had  been  eleven  days  without  an  observation),  I  was 
not  for  some  time  noticed.  The  women  stood  here  and  there 
looking  out  to  sea,  or  talking,  or  marching  up  and  down 
abreast,  and  some  ten  or  twelve  were  walking  upon  the  fore- 
castle. I  observed  that  the  men  bade  them  get  out  of  the 
road  in  the  blunt  speech  and  manner  of  the  ocean  ;  there  was 
no  familiarity  in  their  manner  of  calling  to  the  women,  no 
laughter,  no  "chaff."  They  went  on  with  their  work  as  though 
the  taut  eye  of  a  chief  mate  was  overseeing  them  from  the 
break  of  the  poop,  and  the  women  would  step  aside  to  get  out 
of  the  way  of  the  water  or  the  scrubbing  brushes  without  any 
of  those  airs  of  alley  or  area  coquetry  you  might  have  expected 
in  females  of  their  class  when  addressed  by  men,  and  when 
all  were  in  a  situation  unrestricted  by  quarter-deck  government. 

I  found  on  now  looking  that  I  had  been  right  in  supposing 
the  women's  ages  to  vary  from  eighteen  to  thirty.  Some  were 
delicate  pretty  girls  ;  others  coarse  and  heavy-featured.  One 
who  stood  not  far  from  me  was  pale  and  flabby  faced,  with  a 
goddess'  figure.  Hard  by  stood  one  of  your  rolling,  saucy, 


THE    WOMEN.  127 

hand-on-hip,  laughing  girls,  with  white  teeth,  and  a  dark, 
sharp,  darting  eye.  You'll  easily  get  the  picture  by  figuring 
two  score  or  so  of  cooks  and  housemaids,  domestic  servants  of 
a  superior  sort,  here  and  there  a  woman  whose  looks  sug- 
gested the  milliner,  here  and  there  a  woman  with  drawn,  com- 
templative,  pale  face,  of  a  ladylike  figure,  hinting  at  the  gover- 
ness ;  conceive  these  on  the  deck  of  a  ship  moving  in  groups 
out  of  the  way  of  the  men  who  are  washing  down. 

The  shawls,  bonnets,  hats,  and  gowns  were  of  many  fabrics, 
shapes,  and  tints  ;  most  of  the  girls,  it  seemed,  had  come  to  sea 
in  shabby  finery.  They  flew  feathers  ;  Brummagem  fal-lals 
danced  in  their  ears,  and  brooched  and  pinned  and  even 
ringed  some  of  them  ;  and  though  they  had  been  in  one 
another's  company  for  weeks,  and  by  this  time  probably  knew 
exactly  the  nature  and  extent  of  one  another's  wardrobes, 
they'd  still  glance  critically  at  a  passing  figure,  eye  her  from 
hat  to  heel,  look  from  her  to  their  own  dress  with  downward 
sweeping  glances,  all  critically,  as  though,  by  Heaven  !  they 
were  taking  the  children  for  an  airing  in  the  park  !  as  though 
the  giant  Life  Guardsman  was  close  at  hand  !  as  though,  for- 
sooth, all  were  well  with  the  ship — captain  and  officers  hearty 
and  alert,  the  voyage  as  jolly  as  a  drive  to  a  tea  garden  for  a 
romp  there ! 

But  it's  always  thus  with  women  :  the  troubles  they  find 
hardest  to  bear  are  those  they  expect. 

As  I  stepped  out  of  the  cuddy  door  the  female  whom  Kate 
Darnley  had  called  Hannah  Cobbs,  the  matron,  mounted  the 
hatch  ladder,  and  looking  up  at  the  poop,  nodded  and  smiled 
and  kissed  her  hand.  I  supposed  there  was  some  friend  of  her 
sex  there,  and  making  three  or  four  steps  forward,  I  took  a 
backward  peep,  but  saw  no  one  save  Brigstock,  who  was  stand- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  poop  steps.  Good  mercy  !  thought  I, 
is  it  possible  that  she's  his  choice  ? 

Her  age  was  about  forty  ;  her  thin  bile-darkened  face  was 
striking  because  of  its  long,  lean,  high-perched  Roman  nose  ; 
her  eyes  were  a  pale  green  ;  her  lips  a  mere  stroke  ;  her  fore- 
head bare  even  to  the  suggestion  of  baldness,  but  upon  either 
cheek  and  against  either  ear  there  sat  a  substantial  curl  of 
black  hair  like  a  beer  bottle  with  its  neck  hidden.  She  was  as 
flat  as  a  wall  up  and  down  her,  respectably  attired  in  a  large 
bonnet  and  a  gray  gown  whose  cut  from  the  waist  was  the  out- 
line of  a  candle  extinguisher. 

She  came  out  of  the  hatch  and  went  toward  the  galley. 
Brigstock,  seeing  me,  called  out,  "Good-morning,  sir."  I 
answered  with  a  flourish  of  my  hand,  and  went  along  the  deck, 


128  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

looking  here  and  there,  for  I  wanted  to  see  the  ship.  But  by 
this  time  I  was  perceived  by  the  girls,  one  of  whom,  a  strange 
little  figure,  very  short,  slightly  hunchbacked,  with  a  humor- 
ous squint  and  a  tight  twist  of  scarlet  hair  at  the  back  of  her 
head  under  her  hat,  approached  me  in  a  sort  of  jumping  walk 
across  the  deck,  and  planted  herself  in  my  path. 

"Are  you  the  capting,  sir?"  she  cried,  speaking  harshly 
and  thickly  with  a  cold  in  her  head. 

"  Not  yet,"  I  replied,  with  a  look  round  at  the  women,  who, 
fifteen  or  twenty  of  them,  were  gathering  about  me  even  in  the 
instant  of  the  red-headed  girl's  accost. 

"  We  was  booked  to  go  to  Orstralia,"  she  exclaimed,  "  and 
I  s'y  it's  a  beastly  shame  that  we  aint  to  be  taken  there  all 
along  of  our  having  no  orficers  and  the  commin  sailors  findin' 
creatures — women  I'll  not  call  them — willing  to  take  up  and 
settle  down  with  'em  in  parts  which  isn't  in  our  way  at  all. 
What  I  s'y  is  this,"  she  continued,  with  a  fiery  nod  of  her 
head  at  every  word  :  "  if  we  aint  to  be  took  to  Orstralia  sail 
us  back  'ome." 

"  Miss  Cobbs  !  "  bawled  Brigstock  from  the  break  of  the 
poop,  "  there's  Miss  'Arvey  at  her  old  joke  of  worritin'  again. 
Clear  the  road  for  the  capt'n,  will  'ee,  Miss  Cobbs  ?  He  can't 
answer  no  questions.  And  wont  the  ladies  let  him  walk  for 
his  hentertainment  ? " 

"  Take  us  'ome,  I  s'y,"  screamed  Miss  Harvey  at  Brigstock, 
with  such  a  lift  of  hump  and  butting  poise  of  head  as  trans- 
formed the  poor  soul  into  the  unsightliest  woman  I  had  ever 
seen.  "  If  yer  don't  mean  to  sail  us  to  Orstralia  take  us  'ome. 
That's  what  I  s'y.  Is  there  e'er  a  woman  here  savin'  them  I 
won't  be  so  demeaned  as  to  name  that  wishes  to  be  carried  into 
parts  that  aint  in  the  way  we  settled  and  paid  for  ?  7  know 
the  law  !  "  she  screamed.  "  We've  got  the  perfickest  right  to 
expect  the  new  capt'n  who  stands  here  listenin'  either  to  sail 
us  to  Orstralia  or  carry  us  'ome." 

"  Do  you  'ear  what  Miss  'Arvey  says  ? "  cried  out  a  strongly 
built  young  woman,  with  a  scowling  hanging  face  and  the 
looks  of  a  Jewess  with  her  lemon  cheeks  and  thick  eyebrows. 
"  He  call  hisself  a  man  ! "  she  yelled,  pointing  in  a  most 
insolent,  derisive  manner  at  Brigstock,  and  then  bursting  into 
a  loud  hysterical  laugh.  "  We  ask  to  be  carried  to  Australia 
or  took  'ome.  Why  don't  him  and  his  dirty  sailors  do  it?" 

"Now,  Miss  Harvey,  and  you,  Miss  Marks,  we  don't  want 
any  trouble,  and  least  of  all  noise,'\tyou  please,"  here  exclaimed 
Miss  Cobbs,  the  matron,  thrusting  in  with  the  decision  and  per- 
emptoriness  of  a  female  warder,  speaking  and  looking  indeed 


THE    WOMEN.  129 

with  an  air  as  though  choliad  learned  her  art  in  a  prison.  Her 
voice  was  high,  keen,  and  penetrating,  and  she  stared  as  though 
she  felt  a  power  of  control  in  her  eyes.  "  The  females  in  this 
ship  have  no  call  to  make  any  trouble  of  what  has  happened. 
What's  come  about  is  not  owing  to  Mr.  Brigstock  or  the  sailors. 
All  who  hear  me  know  that  this  ship  has  been  unable  to  make 
any  progress  since  we  lost  sight  of  the  vessel  the  captain  went 
into.  We  are  now  fortunate  in  meeting  with  a  gentleman  who 
will  help  us/'  She  cr,nk  me  an  old-fashioned  courtesy  with  a 
smirk  anC.  a  coy  droop  of  the  eyelids.  "  If  there  are  parties 
who  intend  to  be  set  on  shore  before  they  reach  Australia 
their  vishes  have  nothing  to  do  with  those  who  desire  to  get 
to  New  South  Wales.  Perhaps,  sir,"  she  exclaimed,  addressing 
mcs  "  you  will  kindly  tell  these  young  persons  that  Australia's 
just  as  easily  reached  by  the  passage  of  those  seas  in  which 
the  sailors  and  others  hope  to  settle  themselves  as  by  the 
ordinary  course  round  the  Cape  of  Good  "Ope." 

"  There  are  more  roads  than  one  to  Australia,"  said  I, 
struck  by  her  volubility  and  readiness. 

The  women  had  gathered  around  in  a  crowd,  of  which  Miss 
Cobbc,  and  I  formed  the  center.  Wherever  I  glanced  I  met 
the  gaze  of  dark  eyes,  blue  eyes,  brown  eyes;  some  soft,  appeal- 
ing, timid,  others  on  fire  with  curiosity  and  wonder,  others 
fretful  and  distrustful.  But  who  can  find  terms  for  the  sub- 
tleties of  women's  faces  ? 

"  What  I  s'y  is,  fust  land  us  girls  in  Australia,  them  as 
wishes  Co  get  there,"  exclaimed  Miss  Sarah  Harvey,  fastening 
her  humorous  squint  upon  the  matron,  though  her  posture  and 
looks  wholly  belied  the  suggestion  of  mirth  in  her  perfidious 
eyes,  "  and  then  '.he  others  may  do  as  they  jolly  well  please." 

"  Make  room  for  the  gentleman  to  see  the  ship,"  exclaimed 
Miss  Cobbs. 

I  pressed  forward  and  drove  clear  of  the  poor  girls,  v/ho 
broke  up  as  before  into  parties,  though  they  now  talked  loudly 
and  confusedly.  Brigstock,  who  had  watched  the  proceedings 
on  the  main  deck  from  the  poop,  called  to  Miss  Cobbs,  who 
instantly  turned  and  went  to  him.  Here  and  there  a  sailor, 
stooping  at  his  work  of  coiling,  scrubbing,  swabbing,  as  it 
might  be,  would  lift  his  head  and  eye  me  askant,  but  always 
respectfully,  I  thought,  though  I  found  an  uneasy  anxiety  and 
curiosity  in  two  or  three  of  them.  Those  I  had  not  before 
seen  seemed  decent,  quiet  men,  much  such  as  had  swung  in 
the  forecastle  of  the  Caroline. 

There  yet  remained  a  good  store  of  live  stock  in  the  ship  ; 
the  coop  was  half  full  of  poultry,  some  pigs  were  styed  under 


13°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  longboat,  and  in  the  longboat  were  a  number  of  sheep. 
I  looked  into  the  galley  ;  it  was  large  and  clean,  and  furnished 
for  the  needs  of  many  souls.  The  cook,  as  I  supposed  the 
man  to  be,  stood  with  his  back  to  the  door,  talking  earnestly 
to  a  woman.  She  listened  to  him  with  her  arms  folded,  and 
with  a  smile  of  affectionate  attention.  Her  sharp  black  eyes 
above  his  shoulders  saw  me  peering  in  ;  she  touched  his  bare 
arm,  and  he  turned  to  look  at  me.  I  passed  on,  tasting  a  strong 
smell  of  cocoa  and  baking  bread  in  the  wind,  and  gained  the 
forecastle.  A  few  women  walking  here  eyed  me  earnestly, 
and  looked  as  though  they  must  speak  ;  but  I  put  on  a  figure- 
head of  a  face,  keeping  my  eyes  steadfastly  bent  seaward,  and 
they  held  their  peace. 

A  small  bark  was  in  sight  on  the  weather  bow,  heading 
away  from  us,  close  hauled,  into  the  north  and  west,  too  far  off 
to  speak,  though  I  thought  I  saw  a  spot  of  color  at  her  gaff 
end.  She  showed  like  some  winter  fancy  of  frost  in  the  blue 
air,  with  sparkles  upon  her  dead  whiteness  as  of  the  colored 
lights  in  snow  upon  ice.  She  was  sliding  along  fast,  and  was 
probably  a  Yankee,  bound  from  round  the  Horn  to  a  port  in 
the  States. 

Being  wishful  so  to  view  the  Earl  of  Leicester  as  to  get  that 
sort  of  notion  of  the  fabric  which  was  to  be  obtained  by  look- 
ing at  her  at  a  distance,  I  sprang  on  to  the  bowsprit  and  got 
out  on  the  jib  boom  end,  where,  catching  hold  of  the  stay,  I 
hung  some  five  or  ten  minutes  gazing  aft.  A  noble,  inspirit- 
ing sight  !  Faraway  beneath  me  the  metaled  fore  foot,  bright 
with  yellow  sheathing,  was  shearing  through  the  clear  blue 
brine  ;  the  white  water  coiled  away  from  the  glittering  stem 
in  very  hawsers  of  foam,  their  strands  of  glittering  snow  open- 
ing fingerlike  as  they  raced  aft  ;  the  breeze  was  failing,  but 
it  was  still  a  wind  ;  the  sunlight  streamed  full  upon  the  canvas, 
which  swelled  in  breasts  of  cream  past  one  another,  crowding 
a  wide  space  of  the  brilliant  morning  sky,  to  where  the  gilt 
balls  of  the  trucks  invited  the  gaze  to  the  pearly  spaces  of  the 
royals. 

I  had  a  clear  view  of  the  decks  under  the  arch  of  the  courses, 
and  saw  the  women  walking  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  Brig- 
stock  watching  me  from  the  weather  side  of  the  poop,  and  the 
helmsman  right  aft  rising  and  falling  against  the  blue  line  of 
the  ocean,  with  much  lovely  tinging  of  the  many  lustrous 
colors  by  the  play  of  the  shadows.  Such  a  smart  little  ship  as 
she  looked  from  that  jib  boom  end,  with  nothing  lacking  but 
an  after  quarter  boat,  the  horizon,  risen  by  my  altitude  to 
midway  her  mizzenmast,  defining  her  into  a  very  miracle  of 


THE    WOMEN.  131 

toy-like  minuteness  with  its  background  of  soft  heaving  blue  ! 
But  what  is  there  in  ink  to  give  you  the  spirit  of  what  I  saw — 
the  salt  smells  of  the  ocean  that  sweetened  it,  the  swell  that 
gave  a  rhythm  and  the  wind  a  music  to  it,  the  soaring  sun  in  the 
east  that  glorified  it  ? 

I  slided  inboard,  went  down  the  forecastle  ladder,  and 
walked  aft.  Brigstock  crossed  to  the  lee  side  of  the  poop,  and 
bawled  out  in  his  grave  note,  "  What  d'jer  think  of  her,  sir  ?  " 

I  answered  with  a  nod  of  appreciation.  You  need  not  goto 
sea  long  to  learn  how  to  talk  to  a  sailor  without  speaking  to 
him. 

A  little  crowd  of  women  had  gathered  at  the  galley  door, 
all  with  a  sort  of  big  hook  pots  and  tin  dishes  ;  it  was  break- 
fast time  for  the  'tween  decks,  and  those  girls  were  the  mess 
women  for  the  day.  I  liked  to  see  this  discipline  of  Dr.  Roll's 
time  kept  going  ;  it  spoke  well  for  Brigstock  and  the  matron, 
for  all  hands  indeed. 

As  I  made  my  way  aft,  curiously  but  silently  eyed  by  those 
whom  I  passed,  I  saw  Kate  Darnley.  She  stood  close  to  the 
foot  of  the  poop  ladder.  Beside  her,  as  though  the  group  had 
been  conversing,  were  three  or  four  of  the  few  refined-looking 
girls  ;  the  word  for  them  would  have  been  "genteel  "  in  those 
times.  They  drew  away  as  I  advanced,  lifting  my  hat  with  a 
shore-going  bow.  Kate's  face  was  in  a  glow  at  sight  of  me. 

"  I  looked  about  at  once  for  you,"  said  I,  holding  her  hand 
somewhat  demonstratively,  that  all  who  watched  us  might 
understand  she  was  my  friend.  "  Come  on  to  the  poop.  I 
don't  like  to  think  of  you  as  making  one  of  this  muddle  of 
slaveys  and  shop-joys.  You  must  have  a  cabin  in  the  cuddy 
there." 

"  No,"  she  answered  quickly  and  with  resolution.  "  Favor- 
itism  of  that  sort  would  create  ill  feeling  But  we  can  talk  of 
that  by  and  by.  Are  you  in  command  ?  " 

"  Not  yet." 

"  Why  not  yet  ? "  she  exclaimed.  "  What  are  we  to  do 
without  you  ?" 

I  looked  at  the  clock  over  the  cabin  door  and  said,  "  I  have 
yet  ten  minutes  to  decide  in.  I  promised  Brigstock  " — here  I 
glanced  up  and  saw  him  overhanging  the  rail  looking  at  me — 
"an  answer  by  eight.  What  shall  I  tell  him  ?"  said  I,  smiling 
into  her  eyes,  which  had  grown  spiritless  with  her  changed 
countenance. 

"  Advise  !  You  must  take  command,  of  course.  Don't  you 
know  the  horrible  situation  we  are  placed  in  by  being  without 
officers  ?  I  don't  mean  only  the  helplessness  of  the  crew,  who 


13*  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

know  nothing  of  navigation  ;  the  men  have  found  women  who 
are  willing  to  settle  down  on  an  island  with  them,  and  their 
intention  is  to  hunt  about  for  a  suitable  spot  without  caring  one 
jot,"  she  cried  with  some  passion,  "  what  becomes  of  those  who 
are  left  in  the  ship." 

"  I  know  all  about  it,"  I  answered  softly  and  soothingly. 
"  I'll  take  command  if  it's  only  because  you're  on  board.  And 
you  and  I  will  arrange,"  said  I,  still  softly,  with  another  glance 
up  at  Brigstock,  "  when  the  fools  of  seamen  and  women  have 
left  the  ship,  to  carry  her  into  safety." 

"  Mr.  Morgan,"  sung  down  Brigstock,  "  aint  it  eight  bells 
yet  ? " 

"  Just  upon  it,"  I  answered,  "  and  I'm  ready  for  you.  We'll 
meet  again  shortly,"  said  I  to  the  girl,  whose  eyes  were  alight 
again. 

She  went  to  the  main  hatch  for  her  breakfast  in  the  'tween 
decks,  and  I  stepped  into  the  cuddy. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

I    TAKE   COMMAND. 

THE  table  was  prepared  for  breakfast.  Nothing  could  be 
more  seasonable  as  a  picture  to  a  sharp-set  man  than  Gouger's 
spread  of  ship's  beef,  preserved  mutton,  biscuit,  cheese,  and 
ham.  Brigstock  overhead  called  out  for  Joe  Harding  to  lay 
aft,  and,  "  Bill,"  he  shouted,  "give  an  eye  to  the  ship,  matey, 
while  we  breakfasts." 

After  a  few  minutes  he  came  down  the  companion  along 
with  Joe  Harding  at  the  same  moment  that  Gouger  entered 
by  the  cuddy  door  with  cans  of  coffee  and  cocoa  for  us.  Brig- 
stock  stalked  up  to  me,  Harding  close  behind  him,  and  look- 
ing grimly,  so  severe  was  the  gravity  of  the  fellow  with  the 
anxiety  in  him,  he  said  in  a  low,  level,  preaching  voice,  "  Well, 
sir,  how's  it  to  be  ?" 

"  It's  eight  bells  and  I'll  tell  you,"  said  I.  "  I  accept  the 
command  of  this  ship." 

They  both  looked — Joe's  sneering  whiskered  face  just  be- 
hind Brigstock's  long,  formal,  grave  countenance — as  though 
they  did  not  believe  their  ears  ;  both  men  then  smiled,  and 
Brigstock  said,  "  Mr.  Morgan,  give  me  your  'and." 

I  shook  hands  with  the  man  ;  Joe  Harding  then  extended  a 
large  cold  fist,  which  I  also  shook.  While  this  was  doing  I 
saw,  in  the  corner  of  my  eye,  the  ordinary  seaman  Gouger,  who 


/   TAKE   COMMAND.  133 

stood  in  the  cuddy  door,  flourish  his  arm,  and  a  moment  after 
I  heard  some  cheering  and  laughter  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
galley. 

"  I'm  glad  indeed,  and  truly  indeed  am  1  glad,"  exclaimed 
Brigstock.  "  Eh,  Joe  ?  What  a  lot  of  messing  about  that  lit- 
tle word  « yes '  often  saves  !  Capt'n,  we're  here  to  breakfast 
with  you  this  morning  to  talk  matters  over.  Afterward  it's 
for  you  to  give  orders  as  to  how  things  are  to  be  carried  on 
aft." 

I  seated  myself  at  that  part  of  the  table  where  Captain  Hal- 
crow  had  been  struck  blind,  Brigstock  opposite,  where  Dr.  Rolt 
had  been  killed,  and  Harding  alongside  of  him.  The  move- 
ment of  the  ship  was  gentle,  the  cuddy  full  of  light,  and  the 
warm  sweet  wind  of  the  sea  gushed  in  through  the  open  sky- 
light with  a  humming  sound  like  the  moaning  of  doves.  We 
fell  to,  and  while  we  ate  and  drank  we  discoursed  thus  : 

"  I'm  to  carry  this  ship,"  said  I,  "  to  an  island  in  the 
Pacific  ?  " 

That's  so,"  exclaimed  Brigstock. 

'  Have  you  no  island  of  any  sort  in  your  head  ?  " 
We  must  hunt  for  what  we  want,"  answered  Brigstock. 
We  shall  know  what  we  like  when  we  see  it,"  said  Harding. 
Did  you  ever  chance  to  cast  your  eyes  upon  a  chart  of  the 
North  and  South  Pacific  Ocean,  starting  from  about  a  hundred 
degrees  of  west  longitude  and  running  on  to  about  a  hundred 
and  thirty  of  east  longitude  ?    It's  all  islands,  Mr.  Brigstock, 
there,  from  the  parallel  of  30°  S.  to  the  same  latitude  north  : 
a  mighty  big  field  to  pick  and  choose  from." 

"  Why,  yes  ;  putting  it  that  way  so  it  is,"  he  answered  with 
his  mouth  full  of  preserved  mutton;  "  but  now  you're  in  charge, 
sir,  with  a  knowledge  of  them  seas  " — I  shook  my  head,  but  he 
went  on — "  and  good  charts  aboard,  there'll  be  no  difficulty 
afore  we're  up  to  the  Horn  in  settling  upon  a  corner  of  that 
field,  as  you  rightly  tarm  it,  to  hunt  over.  No  call  to  chase  the 
whole  ocean.  It's  climate  fust.  That  carries  soil  and  all 
else  we've  got  in  our  minds  along  with  it." 

"  You  go  ashore,"  said  I,  "  with  a  number  of  women  who 
have  never  in  their  lives,  perhaps,  slept  unsheltered.  How  do 
you  mean  to  stow  them  till  you  can  build  a  roof  for  their 
heads  ?" 

"  That's  what  we  mean  by  climate,"  said  Harding,  wiping 
a  smear  of  cocoa  off  his  sourly  curled  lips  with  the  back  of 
his  hand,  that  was  of  the  very  color  of  the  stuff  with  weather 
and  the  tar  bucket.  "  The  climate's  all  the  roof  that's  needed 
till  a  village  is  built.  What  are  we  to  be  told  :  that  poor  sav- 


134  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ages  with  nothen  on  fit  to  be  took  notice  of  can  sleep  sound 
and  keep  their  health  under  the  stars,  and  hearty  English- 
women all  wrapped  up  in  good  clothes  an'  strong  as  cows  are 
to  sicken  for  the  want  of  shelter  ?  " 

"  No  call  to  talk  o'  shelter,"  said  Brigstock.  "  How  much 
temporeery  roofing  may  a  man  get  out  of  a  spare  fore  top- 
sail ? " 

"  To  come  to  the  business  of  my  command  :  what's  to  be 
the  discipline  with  regard  to  the  emigrants  ?  " 

"  It  can't  be  bettered,"  exclaimed  Brigstock. 

"  I  believe  that,  always  providing  the  crew  keep  clear  of  the 
women's  quarters  and  interfere  with  the  girls  no  more  than 
they  did  in  Dr.  Roll's  time." 

" Then  they'll  interfere  with  them  less"  exclaimed  Harding, 
with  a  sour  nod.  "  Don't  go  and  suppose,  sir,  that  the  doctor 
was  all  eye.  Our  choice  is  our  choice ;  there'll  be  no  inter- 
ference." 

"  Trust  our  pardners  to  see  to  it !  "  said  Brigstock,  with 
a  grave  smile. 

"  I've  had  all  night  to  think  the  matter  over,"  said  I,  "  and 
I  can  find  nothing  to  stipulate  for.  When  you  leave  the  ship 
you  give  her  up  to  me  and  the  rest  is  my  affair.  Is  that  so  ?" 

"  All  so,"  exclaimed  Brigstock  with  emphasis. 

"  It's  my  intention  to  sail  her  to  Sydney  when  you've  landed. 
I  shall  want  men  to  work  her." 

"  We'll  pick  up  a  crew  of  Kanakas  as  we  go  along,"  said 
Harding. 

"  That's  possible.  What  put  this  scheme  of  settling  an 
island  into  your  head  ?  "  said  I,  looking  at  Brigstock. 

"  Well,"  he  answered,  pronouncing  his  words  very  deliber- 
ately, "  for  a-many  year  now  it's  been  a  sort  of  passion  of 
mine  to  start  a  new  constitootion.  It  was  never  one  of  them 
rich  and  shining  fancies  which  lead  a  man  out  of  his  plain 
walk  of  life  in  chase ;  but  things  happenin'  as  they've  done 
aboard  this  ship,  all  hinnocently  contrived,  everything  fallin' 
out  in  the  lawful  and  correct  course  of  accidents,  why,  the 
occasion  being  come,  I  grasped  it,  sir,  and  I  put  it  to  my 
mates  as  a  splendid  hopportunity  to  free  theirselves  from  the 
galling  restraints  of  civilization  and  the  hardships  of  having  to 
work  for  four-and-twenty  hours  a  day  in  frost  and  wet  and 
muck  for  two  pound  ten  and  three  pound  ten  a  month.  They 
seed  it  as  I  seed  it.  There  was  to  be  no  wrongdoing.  We 
put  it  to  certain  of  the  females.  It  was  like  giving  them  new 
hearts.  They  jumped  with  delight.  Worn't  it  so,  Joe  ? 
Didn't  that  there  Nell  Wilde  of  yourn  cut  a  caper  or  two  when 


7    TAKE   COMMAND.  135 

you  offered  yourself  ?  What  was  it  they  was  to  be  given  ? 
An  'usband  and  a  'ome  apiece,  a  pick  o'  acres,  nothen  to  do 
but  to  develop  the  settlement — instead  of  what  ? "  He  paused 
with  a  grimace  of  deep  disgust.  if  Why,  instead  of  being 
menials  and  slaves  in  a  new  country,  a-drudging  in  Australia 
as  they  drudged  in  England,  grate  cleanin',  floor  sweepin',  hup 
at  cockrise,  bullied  by  a  mistress  as  might  have  been  a 
convick  !  " 

He  spoke  with  a  slight  twang  in  his  nose,  and  suggested  the 
Sunday  street  corner  ranter.  I  watched  and  listened  to  him 
with  interest.  Long  as  I  had  used  the  sea  I  had  never  met 
quite  the  like  of  such  a  sailor  as  this,  though  I  had  been  ship- 
mate with  some  pious,  respectable,  worthy  fellows  too  in  my 
time. 

>"  Have  you  ever  read  about  Pitcairn  Island  ? "  said  I. 
He  smiled  and  said,  "Often.     I  could  give  you  the  yarn  of 
that  there  mutiny  and  settlement  off  by  heart.     Old  Adams  is 
my  model  in  this  here  scheme." 

"  I  guessed  as  much,"  said  I.  "  You  choose  Adams  in 
preference  to  Fletcher  Christian." 

"  Recollect  what  Christian  was  shot  for,"  he  answered. 
"  D'jer  remember  the  description  the  parties  as  met  with  them 
islanders  gave  of  the  settlement  :  how  Adams'  daughter,  a 
fine  handsome  girl,  clothed  slightly,  like  a  female  in  a  play, 
stood  waiting  on  the  top  of  a  hill  for  the  men-of-war  people  to 
land,  and  how  she  led  'em  through  groves  of  cocoanut  and 
breadfruit  trees  to  a  beautiful,  picturesque  little  village. 
Them's  the  words  of  the  yarn  if  my  memory  aint  astray.  Ha," 
he  cried,  fetching  a  deep  breath,  "  haint  that  description 
fetching  enough  for  the  likes  of  such  folks  as  us  and  our 
pardners?" 

"  The  whole  twelve  of  you,  then,  are  of  one  mind  ?  " 

"  Aye.  Twelve  strands  all  laid  up  into  a  rope  of  resolu- 
tion !  " 

"  Do  they  and  the  women  realize  what  they  surrender  by 
living  on  a  lonely  Pacific  island  ?  " 

"  Surrender  !  "  cried  Brigstock,  whose  dark  eyes  began  to 
sparkle  with  animation.  "  Yes,  sir.  They  realize  that  they 
surrender  the  grog  shop  and  the  dancing  room,  the  Sails  and 
Sukeys  of  the  Highway  and  the  out  ports,  the  crimp  who  drugs 
and  the  owner  who  drowns  men,  and  the  capt'n  and  mates,  in 
whose  eyes  the  sailor's  a  scoundrel  dog,  meant  by  Almighty 
God  to  be  kicked  and  cursed  and  starved,  too  vile  to  be 
prayed  for,  so  that  he  never  hears  a  prayer,  good  only  as 
a  skin  full  of  bones,  which  are  to  be  worked  and  bruised  and 


136  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

chilled  and  starved  through  his  rag-covered  flesh  till  they're 
only  fit  to  be  tossed  overboard  with  a  stone  in  the  hammock 
clews,  and  not  a  creature  in  the  wide  world  to  tell  you  whose 
child  he  was.  Oh,  yes,  we  all  know  what  we're  a-going  to 
surrender." 

I  was  astonished  by  the  man's  rude  eloquence,  and  judged 
of  its  influence  upon  the  crew  by  observing  how  it  worked  in 
Joe  Harding,  who,  when  Brigstock  ceased,  threw  an  empty 
pannikin  at  the  cuddy  door,  and,  withouts  peech,  fetched  the 
table  a  savage  whack  with  his  fist. 

"  But  it  aint  surrenderin'  only,"  continued  Brigstock ; 
"  we're  all  sick  of  what  we  means  to  give  up  ;  so  are  our 
pardners.  Aint  there  to  be  never  any  change  for  a  man  ? 
Often  when  I  look  at  a  clock  I  say  to  myself,  Why  are  them 
hands  always  a-going  round  the  same  way  ?  Is  time  to  be 
read  only  in  one  fashion?  No  sensible  man  can  think  of 
custom  without  feeling  ill.  We're  born  naked  and  the  rest  is 
habit.  I'm  for  a  constitootion  where  habit  shall  be  all  nature 
just  as  the  baby's  all  nature.  Likewise  I'm  for  founding  the 
religion  of  my  constitootion  upon  'Oly  Writ.  What's  a  Chris- 
tian nowadays  ?  Aint  he  a  cove  that  believes  in  everything  but 
what's  to  be  found  in  the  Bible  ?  " 

"  It's  the  sameness  that's  killing  ! "  exclaimed  Harding. 
"  Every  day's  like  a  shilling,  and  a  bad  un  at  that ;  head  one 
side,  tail  t'other  ;  whichever  side  ye  tarn  it,  there  it  is  ;  head 
or  tail." 

"  It  may  end  in  your  joining  of  us,  Mr.  Morgan,"  said 
Brigstock.  "  I  see  you're  already  beknown  to  as  nice  a  little 
party  as  there  is  aboard." 

"  She's  a  lady,  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman,  an  intimate 
friend,  driven  by  poverty  into  crossing  the  sea  for  bread. 
Her  being  in  the  ship  increases  my  anxiety  as  to  the  behavior 
of  your  men." 

"  I  assure  you,  sir,"  he  exclaimed  earnestly,  "  there's  no 
call  to  be  in  the  least  uneasy." 

"  More  like  t'other  way  about,  I  allow,"  said  Harding. 
"  It's  us  as  wants  protecting." 

"  What's  the  discipline  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  We've  kep'  to  the  doctor's  lines,"  answered  Brigstock. 
"  The  females  breakfast  at  eight,  dines  at  half-past  twelve, 
and  get  their  supper  at  half-past  five.  Miss  Cobbs,  the 
matron,  as  she's  called,  is  a  fust-rate  'and  ;  everything  under 
her  moves  as  soft  and  quiet  as  ile.  She  was  born  to  help  a 
man  to  start  a  new  constitootion.  I  fancied  her  the  hinstant 
I  saw  her.  She's  my  pardner  in  this  here  traverse,"  said  he, 


I   TAKE   COMMAND.  137 

viewing  me  gravely.  He  added,  "  More'n  I'd  got  a  right  to 
expect  as  a  plain  working  man,  whose  looks  aint  perhaps  quite 
what  they  was  twenty  years  ago." 

I  held  my  face  steady,  though  with  difficulty.  An  inoppor- 
tune smile  must  be  a  perilous  thing  with  men  so  consumedly 
serious  as  those  two  fellows. 

"  None  of  the  crew,  I  suppose,  are  ever  allowed  in  the 
women's  quarters?  " 

"  None.  Not  likely.  All  twelve  of  us  has  got  the  same 
as  a  wife  there.  D'jer  think  I'd  relish  hearing  of  my  mates 
cruising  about  in  the  dark  below  in  the  neighborhood  of  Miss 
Cobbs  ?  Every  man  haint  got  the  same  tone  of  voice,  but  we 
can  all  sing  out  when  we're  hurt.  What's  my  poison  aint 
going  to  prove  meat  for  Joe  there.  You  take  it,  Mr.  Morgan, 
that  if  your  young  pardner  was  ashore  under  her  father's 
roof  she  couldn't  be  safer  than  she  is  here." 

"And  perhaps  not  so  safe,"  exclaimed  Harding  gruffly, 
"  if  you're  to  believe  all  that's  told  of  what  happens  in  them 
country  vicarages.  Not  long  afore  we  sailed  some  chap  at 
the  house  I  lodged  at  read  a  piece  in  a  paper  about  a  parson's 
daughter  as  had  been  run  away  with  by  a  nobleman's  footman. 
She  shammed  it  were  his  doing  when  they  was  brought  up 
charged  with  pawning  the  church  silver.  But  letters  was  read 
in  the  court  house  a-proving  beyond  argeyment  that  both 
parties  was  equally  willin'." 

"  Well,  then,  sir,"  exclaimed  Brigstock,  making  as  though  to 
leave  the  table,  "  it's  onderstood  that  you  take  charge  of  the 
ship  ?" 

"  Aye,  setting  those  ashore  who  wish  to  leave  her,  and  then 
proceeding." 

"  The  course  now  to  be  headed  is  straight  for  the  Horn," 
said  he. 

"  It's  the  road  to  the  South  Seas.  I  shall  want  to  get  at  the 
ship's  stock  of  provisions  and  fresh  water." 

"  Say  the  word  and  it's  done,  sir,"  said  Brigstock. 

"  We'll  start  at  half-past  nine." 

"  There's  nothen  to  keep  me  here,  I  think,  is  there,  Mr. 
Brigstock?"  said  Harding,  who,  on  getting  a  shake  of  .the 
head  from  the  other,  left  the  cuddy. 

"  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  Brigstock  after  looking  at  me  for 
a  few  moments  very  earnestly,  "  you  now  perceive  that  our  in- 
tentions are  hinnocent  an'  honest  ? " 

"  There's  nothing  to  find  fault  with.  I'm  not  for  holding 
that  you're  still  bound  by  the  articles,  seeing  how  things  are, 
but  I  doubt  if  the  lawyers  would  let  you  touch  the  cargo." 


138  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  We'll  take  for  our  necessities  only,  and  the  value  shan't 
exceed  our  wages.  'Sides,  shan't  we  have  saved  the  ship  for 
the  owners  by  putting  you  in  command  and  working  her  till 
Australia's  almost  aboard  ? "  Then,  finding  me  silent,  he 
said  in  his  low,  level,  deep  voice,  "  Mr.  Morgan,  in  giving  you 
this  trust,  us  men  of  course  have  full  confidence  in  you." 

"  I'll  carry  you  to  the  South  Pacific,  where  it's  for  you  to 
find  an  island.  Nothing  more's  expected  ? " 

"  Nothen." 

"  From  me,  I  mean.  From  you  I  shall  want  this  :  the  women 
must  be  as  faithfully  and  jealously  protected  as  though  armed 
sentries  were  betwixt  them  and  the  forecastle." 

"  The  men  know  my  views,  and  they'll  larn  yours,"  said  he. 
"  I  tell  you,  sir,  there's  nothen  to  be  afraid  of  in  that  way." 

I  gave  him  a  nod,  and,  our  conversation  having  ended,  he 
went  on  deck  and  I  stepped  into  my  cabin. 

I  lingered  lost  in  thought,  my  eyes  fixed  on  the  sea  that 
swept  trembling,  brimful  of  light,  past  the  circle  of  cabin 
window.  I  had  reflected  long  and  passionately  before  decid- 
ing, yet  now  that  I  had  accepted  command  the  responsibility 
weighed  upon  me  as  though  it  had  been  new  and  violently 
sudden.  But  I  was  content;  I  had  charge  of  a  fine  ship,  and 
it  would  be  my  fault  if  the  post  proved  barren.  I  might  be 
the  instrument  for  rescuing  a  great  crowd  of  poor  women  from 
a  situation  of  enormous  peril ;  I  should  probably  be  the  means 
of  preserving  a  noble  vessel ;  I  had  good  reasons  to  hope  that 
the  men  would  prove  decorous  in  their  relations  with  the 
'tween  decks  ;  and  concern  for  their  own  safety  and  their  reso- 
lution to  carry  the  ship  into  the  Pacific  should  go  the  whole 
length  of  keeping  them  obedient.  In  a  word,  I  was  satisfied. 

One  thing,  however,  was  plain  :  I  must  quickly  settle  the 
whereabouts  of  a  suitable  island,  for  I  had  no  notion  of  keep- 
ing this  ship  full  of  women  cruising  about  in  search  of  a  site 
for  a  forecastle  Utopia. 

Being  without  a  watch,  I  went  on  to  the  quarter-deck  to  see 
what  o'clock  it  was,  and  found  the  hour  just  half-past  nine. 
The  women  had  long  ago  finished  breakfast  and  nearly  all  of 
them  were  on  deck,  sitting,  lounging,  flitting;  their  tongues 
wagged  ceaselessly.  Here  and  there  sat  one  with  a  book. 
Three  of  them  were  talking  to  the  same  number  of  sailors  on 
the  forecastle.  I  guessed  them  "  pardners,"  as  Brigstock 
called  them. 

Kate  Darnley  stood  alone  to  leeward  of  the  main  deck  ;  she 
was  upon  a  coil  of  rope  which  raised  her  head  above  the  rail, 
and  she  was  looking  down  at  the  wreaths  and  bells  of  white 


/   TAKE    COMMAND.  139 

foam  now  languidly  streaming  past.  The  heavier  canvas  was 
hollowing  in  to  the  bowing  of  the  vessel  with  light  reports  like 
the  explosions  of  smallarms  up  aloft. 

The  women  stared  at  me  very  hard,  many  breaking  off  in 
their  speech.  The  female  with  the  club  nose  and  merry  cast  of 
eye  approached  with  protest  and  passion  strong  and  hot  in  her 
face.  To  escape  her  I  went  on  to  the  poop,  and  when  from  the 
break  of  it  I  looked  forward  so  as  to  take  in  the  ship,  Kate 
Darnley  turned  and  saw  me.  I  pulled  off  my  hat,  and  going 
down  to  leeward,  called  along  the  line  of  bulwark  rail,  "  I  hope 
to  join  you  by  and  by."  She  gave  me  a  bow  with  some  color, 
and  I  noticed  that  many  of  the  women  looked  at  her  and 
spoke  one  to  another,  evidently  "  making  remarks,"  as  they 
call  it. 

Brigstock  stood  near  the  wheel  talking  to  the  man  at  it. 
Before  singing  out  to  him  I  sent  a  glance  round  the  ocean  ; 
the  bark  had  vanished — nothing  was  in  sight.  I  reckoned  that 
the  failing  of  the  breeze  might  signify  the  speedy  breathing  of 
the  trade  wind.  Southeast  it  was  a  bit  hazy,  with  fibrine  lines 
of  cloud-like  rays  of  light,  and  white  as  milk  in  the  shining 
morning,  striking  out  of  what  I  judged  might  be  a  bank  of 
vapor  invisible  in  the  dimness.  Yet  the  wind  hung  still  to  the 
north  of  west,  scanting  even  as  I  stood  looking,  and  the  slop- 
slop  of  the  water  lifting  to  the  side  and  falling  back  was  a  sure 
sign  of  an  approaching  lull. 

Brigstock  now  coming  to  me,  I  told  him  to  get  the  fore  and 
main  hatches  open  and  call  Joe  Harding  aft  to  keep  a  lookout. 
But  before  entering  the  hold  I  desired  to  inspect  the  'tween 
decks  ;  accordingly,  followed  by  Brigstock,  I  descended  the 
wide  main  hatch  ladder  and  entered  the  women's  quarters. 
Under  and  round  the  hatchway  there  was  plenty  of  light,  but 
the  fore  part  was  so  gloomy  that  the  sight  fresh  from  the  day 
failed  to  easily  determine  outlines. 

I  found  here  what  I  had  not  expected  to  see  :  a  row  of 
plain,  white,  bulkheaded  cabins,  rudely  put  together,  such  as 
you'd  find  in  a  troop  ship  of  that  day  ;  they  ran  on  either  hand 
halfway  along  the  'tween  decks  ;  the  ship's  sides  then  lay 
exposed,  scaffolded  with  sleeping  shelves  in  double  tiers. 
Down  the  center  betwixt  the  cabins  and  open  bunks  ran  a 
narrow  table  framed  with  rude  benches  of  deal  plank  on  short, 
sawed-off  timber  uprights.  The  smell  of  the  newly  sawn  wood 
still  lingered. 

A  few  women  were  sitting  at  the  table,  two  of  them  writing, 
the  others  sewing.  After  I  had  stood  a  minute  looking  around 
Miss  Cobbs  came  out  of  the  first  of  the  cabins  on  the  port 


14°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

side.  She  ducked  me  a  courtesy,  and  then  looking  at  Brig- 
stock  exclaimed  :  "  Thomas,  I  hope  we  may  now  call  the  gen- 
tleman captain  ? " 

"  Yer  may,  'Annah,"  answered  Brigstock,  taking  her  sharp 
elbow  in  the  yellow  hollow  palm  of  his  hand  as  she  came  and 
stood  beside  him,  rubbing  shoulders  with  a  cat-like  slope  of 
her  figure.  "  It's  now  Captain  Morgan  of  the  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter. There's  to  be  nothen  in  the  past  to  discomfort  our  satis- 
faction, and  the  future's  to  be  hall  plain  sailing." 

"  Miss  Cobbs,  I  shall  count  upon  your  helping  me  to  keep 
the  routine  of  Dr.  Rolt's  time  going  tautly  as  it  was  worked 
when  he  was  alive,"  said  I.  "  I  pretty  well  see  what  the  rules 
are.  Let  everything  be  sweet  and  clean  down  here,  Miss 
Cobbs.  Turn  the  women  up  regularly  to  air  their  bedding. 
You're  skipper  of  this  part  of  the  ship  ;  I  look  to  you  to  help 
us  along  through  a  very  queer  dilemma." 

"  Captain  Morgan,  you  may  depend  upon  my  doing  hevery- 
thing  that  lies  in  my  power,"  she  answered  with  a  mincing, 
finical,  "  superior  "  air,  while  her  mere  line  of  mouth  parted  in 
a  maidenly  smirk  as  she  looked  at  me,  letting  her  eyes  wink 
down  my  figure. 

I  was  too  much  in  earnest  to  suffer  any  old  fooling  and  what 
I  may  call  sausage-curl  coquetry  in  Miss  Cobbs,  and  began  to 
question  her  sharply  and  sternly.  I  wanted  to  know  her 
methods,  what  were  the  rules  as  to  the  washing  down  of  the 
'tween  decks,  at  what  time  of  day  and  how  often  the  bedding 
was  aired.  I'll  not  trouble  you  with  the  questions  I  put  to 
her  ;  she  answered  me  intelligently  and  respectfully,  shrewdly 
and  swiftly  appreciating  my  earnestness  and  attitude  of  com- 
mand. Brigstock  listened  with  a  grave  smile  ;  the  man  ap- 
peared both  impressed  and  pleased.  The  women  at  the  table 
ceased  to  write  and  sew  to  hearken  to  us. 

While  I  talked  a  couple  of  seamen  came  below  and  opened 
the  hatch  which  conducted  into  the  hold  ;  it  lay,  of  course, 
right  under  the  main  deck  hatch.  I  meant  to  see  more  of  the 
'tween  decks,  however,  before  going  into  the  question  of  the 
stores. 

"  Let  me  look  at  those  cabins,"  said  I. 

Miss  Cobbs  threw  open  the  door  of  her  own  berth.  This 
interior  had  been  specially  fitted  up  for  the  matron  and  con- 
tained a  single  sleeping  shelf  and  the  conveniences  of  a  bedroom. 
The  other  cabins  were  larger,  and  each  contained  a  couple  of 
shelves  for  the  reception  of  six  women.  The  shelves  were 
divided  into  three  by  coamings  or  thin  strips  of  plank  that 
each  sleeper  might  rest  clear  of  her  companions. 


/    TAKE   COMMAND.  141 

"  Where  does  Miss  Darnley  sleep  ? "  said  I. 

"  In  the  fore  end  yonder,  sir,"  answered  Miss  Cobbs. 

"  Upon  an  open  shelf  there  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Why  should  some  have  cabins  and  some  open  shelves 
when  all  should  fare  alike?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  This  is  how  we  found  the  ship  fitted,  but 
the  open  shelves  are  the  beds  most  favored.  The  women 
don't  like  being  boxed  up,  more  particularly  when  it's  hot  like 
now.  There's  been  a  great  deal  of  uncomfortable  feeling 
caused  by  them  open  shelves  there. 

I  walked  slowly  forward  ;  the  women  at  the  table  rose  as  I 
approached.  One  of  them,  a  tall,  fair,  dough-faced  girl  with 
amber  hair,  and  pale  blue  eyes,  and  a  willowy  figure,  and  large, 
red  hands,  eloquent  of  the  grate  and  the  doorstep,  exclaimed  in 
a  trembling  voice,  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir ;  if  you're  the  new 
captain  may  I  ask  a  question  ?  " 

"  Now,  Miss  Dobree,"  whipped  in  Miss  Cobbs,  her  clear, 
hard  voice  shearing  betwixt  me  and  the  girl  with  an  actual  sug- 
gestion of  the  cutlass  in  the  steel-like  sweep  of  the  tone  past 
the  ear,  "  Captain  Morgan  is  not  here  to  answer  questions  ; 
he's  merely  come  to  look  round." 

"  What  do  you  wish  to  say  ? "  I  exclaimed. 

"  What's  to  be  done  with  us,  sir  ?  "  answered  the  girl,  and 
even  as  she  spoke  her  eyes  bubbled. 

"  I  shall  carry  you  to  your  destination,"  said  I.  "  Presently 
I'll  call  representatives  of  you  aft  and  reassure  you,  I  hope. 
Don't  cry  ;  it's  all  right." 

"  The  wrong's  this,"  exclaimed  a  young  woman  at  the  other 
side  of  the  table,  a  powerfully  built  person  of  some  eight-and- 
twenty,  wild  with  thick  black  finger-swept  hair  and  heavy  eye- 
brows, but  coarsely  good  looking,  with  a  sort  of  taking  charm, 
too,  in  the  mutinous  glare  of  her  black  eyes,  richly  fringed  and 
steady  in  [their  stare  as  a  portrait's  :  "  here's  Miss  Cobbs 
paid  to  look  after  us,  and  she's  one  of  the  first  to  go  over 
to  the  sailors.  Oughtn't  she  to  know  better?  Aren't  the 
years  she's  come  to  called  the  age  of  discretion  ?  "  She  looked 
with  audacious  scorn  at  Miss  Cobbs. 

"  Hold  your  saucy  tongue  ! "  cried  the  matron.  "  WLy  powers 
are  none  the  less  because  things  are  not  as  they  were  when  we 
sailed.  You'll  do  no  good  to  yourself  by  insulting  me.  Get 
on  deck  and  cast  your  swinish  temper  into  the  sea." 

The  young  woman  muttered  to  one  of  her  companions,  and 
then  laughed  passionately.  Miss  Cobbs  took  no  notice,  and 
we  walked  into  the  fore  part  of  the  'tween  decks. 


142  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Here  the  interior  had  the  look  of  a  prison.  I  once  boarded 
a  convict  ship  at  Hobart  Town,  and  the  fittings  of  that  vessel 
reminded  me  of  what  I  now  saw.  A  girl  was  asleep  in  a  bunk 
in  the  starboard  lower  tier  ;  her  hair  had  been  loosened  with 
the  friction  of  the  pillow  ;  it  lay  upon  her  brow  and  neck  in 
such  a  shadow  or  dye  of  raven  blackness  that  by  contrast  the 
white  face  looked  like  light  itself.  Miss  Cobbs  spoke.  I 
whispered,  "  Speak  soft."  Never  before  had  the  sense  of  the 
sanctity  of  sleep  been  keener  in  me.  Miss  Cobbs  whispered 
that  the  girl  had  complained  of  a  splitting  headache  ;  well  or 
ill,  she  looked  as  if  resting  in  the  sweet  and  touching  calm  of 
death.  No  voice  now  sounded  in  those  'tween  decks  ;  nothing 
was  to  be  heard  but  the  creaking  of  the  bulkheads  ;  in  that 
brief  pause,  vexed  only  by  the  weak,  fine-weather  noises  of  the 
fabric,  I  viewed  that  lonely  sleeping  figure.  Lonely  she  looked. 
Not  that  she  was  lonelier  than  the  others,  but  her  solitariness 
was  made  appealing  by  her  lying  there  asleep,  and  by  her  being 
the  only  figure  in  those  rows  of  shelves.  Whose  child  was  she  ? 
What  were  her  hopes  ? 

If  ever  ship  needed  a  commander  this  was  she  !  Poor  Kate 
Darnley !  thought  I,  glancing  round  the  scaffolding  of  bed 
places.  To  be  sure,  it  would  be  misery  for  the  refined,  well-bred 
lady,  the  woman  of  instincts  fastidious  with  breeding  and  edu- 
cation, to  suffer  and  sicken  in  such  a  dungeon-like  glimmering 
bedroom  as  this,  with  its  pretty  company  of  the  kitchen  and 
the  scullery  regaling  one  another  with  area  memories  and 
recollections  of  the  Sunday  evening  gent. 

I  walked  aft  in  silence,  Miss  Cobbs  in  my  wake.  Brigstock 
stood  at  the  open  hatch. 

"We'll  deal  with  the  fresh  water  stock  first,"  said  I. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    "  PARDNERS." 

BY  half-past  eleven  I  had  got  at  all  I  wanted  to  find  out.  I 
was  an  old  hand  at  stowage,  and  knew  the  art  of  gauging. 
This  was  the  second  time  since  I  sailed  from  England  that  I 
had  found  occasion,  for  one  reason  or  another,  for  ascertaining 
the  stock  of  fresh  water,  and  now  the  stores  of  victuals.  I  did 
not  choose  to  trust  to  Brigstock's  report.  I  crawled  about 
the  fore  hold,  then  over  the  water  casks  stowed  under  the 
main  deck,  then  overhauled  the  after  hatch,  and  with  a  paper 
full  of  figures  and  writing  rudely  scratched  by  lantern  light,  I 


THE   "  PARDNERS."  143 

went  on  deck,  made  for  my  cabin,  where  in  five  or  ten  minutes 
I  washed  and  trimmed  myself,  and  carried  my  sextant  on  to 
the  poop. 

While  taking  an  observation  I  smiled  at  the  eagerness  with 
which  I  was  watched  by  the  women.  They  crowded  up  the 
poop  ladder  to  look  at  me  ;  they  swarmed  upon  the  bulwarks, 
more  or  less  gracefully  swinging  by  the  rigging.  A  crowd 
stared  from  the  head  of  the  forecastle  ladder. 

On  making  the  hour  noon  I  sung  out  for  eight  bells  to  be 
struck  in  the  usual  words  ;  instantly  one  of  the  seamen  who 
had  stationed  himself  beside  the  bell  abaft  the  mainmast 
struck  it,  and  along  with  the  chimes  there  ran  a  very  musketry 
of  hand-clapping,  accompanied  by  a  chorus  of  shrieking 
cheers  startling  to  listen  to.  Did  you  ever  hear  women 
cheer  ?  Never  did  I  before  that  time  nor  since.  It  was  like 
the  wailing  and  crying  of  a  hundred  children  in  pain  and  terror, 
nothing  whatever  jubilant  or  gratulatory  in  it — the  wildest, 
most  inhuman  expression  imaginable  of  hope  renewed  and 
pleasure  ;  something  to  sound  pitifully  and  frightfully  by  night 
in  one  of  the  deeper  hushes  of  the  sea. 

I  bade  Brigstock  put  the  clock  on  the  cuddy  front  right,  and 
went  below  to  work  out  my  sights  and  deal  with  the  figures  I 
had  brought  up  out  of  the  hold.  This  business  occupied  me 
till  hard  upon  one.  The  quantity  of  fresh  water  was  far 
greater  than  1  had  imagined.  It  was  evident  the  commander 
had  not  designed  to  call  at  the  Cape. 

The  discovery  pleased  me.  We  should,  of  course,  have 
found  no  difficulty  in  filling  our  water  casks,  but  unless  we 
hove  to  off  something  barren  like  the  Salvage,  discovered  a 
fountain  there,  and  rafted  our  casks  for  it,  the  scheme  the 
sailors  had  in  hand  would  certainly  be  blown  by  the  women. 
At  no  port  would  it  be  possible  to  keep  the  Pacific  project 
secret,  in  which  case  some  British  consul  or  other  would  come 
upon  the  scene,  dismiss  me  from  the  command  for  all  I  could 
tell,  to  put  a  friend  of  his  in  my  room,  dispatch  the  ship  to  her 
New  South  Wales  port,  and  leave  me  to  kick  my  unoccupied 
heels  about  till  I  found  an  aforemast  berth  or  something  of 
that  sort. 

No  !  The  closer  I  looked  into  my  present  situation  the  bet- 
ter was  I  pleased  with  it.  In  fact  I  was  already  as  much  in 
earnest  as  Brigstock  that  he  and  his  company  of  men  and 
women,  the  rude  forefathers  and  grandmothers  of  some  tiny 
South  Sea  commonwealth,  should  go  ashore  upon  an  island 
and  leave  me  to  manage  the  rest. 

I  marked  the  situation  of  the  ship  upon  the  track  chart,  and 


144  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

went  on  deck  to  look  at  the  weather  before  eating.  The  cabin 
table  was  being  prepared  for  the  midday  meal  by  Gouger,  who 
was  now  to  regularly  serve  in  my  end  of  the  ship.  The  table 
looked  smart  and  glistening  enough  with  damask  and  glass 
and  plate  ;  indeed  the  equipment  of  the  vessel  was  handsome 
throughout,  down  to  the  littlest  particulars.  I'd  often  wonder 
that  so  smart,  well-found  a  craft  should  be  employed  in  this 
low  trade  ;  but  then  those  were  bad  times  in  shipping  ;  wages 
were  poor,  the  carrying  traffic  overdone,  freights  low.  No 
doubt  the  owners  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  were  glad  enough  to 
fill  her  up  with  a  cargo  of  women  and  the  colonial  stores  she 
carried. 

Looking  at  the  table  as  I  passed  on  my  way  on  deck,  I 
resolved  to  bring  Kate  Darnley  into  this  cabin,  out  of  the 
twilight  and  alley  chatter  of  the  'tween  decks.  Here  she  would 
feel  herself  the  lady  she  was.  Here  she  would  sit  at  a  breezy 
table  under  a  bright  skylight,  and  eat  and  drink  of  all  that  was 
best  in  the  ship's  larder.  I  was  now  in  command;  I  was  supreme 
head.  My  will  was  the  will  of  the  quarter-deck,  than  which 
there  is  nothing  more  despotic  the  wide  world  over.  Kate 
Darnley  is  my  friend,  thought  I  ;  why  shouldn't  I  make  her  a 
first-class  passenger  ? 

On  gaining  the  deck  I  found  a  calm  upon  the  sea  ;  the  sails 
were  beating  the  masts  to  the  long-drawn  rolls  of  the  ship  upon 
the  swell  that  had  come  on  a  sudden  chasing  out  of  the  south- 
east. I  told  Brigstock  to  stand  by  for  a  shift  of  wind  ;  the 
mainsail  was  already  hauled  up,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done  but  wait.  The  women  were  below  at  dinner  ;  up  through 
the  wide  main  hatch  came  the  clatter  of  crockery  and  the 
shrewd  hum  of  female  voices.  A  couple  of  women  holding 
mess  utensils  stood  at  the  galley  door  talking  to  some  of  the 
seamen.  I  stepped  to  the  break  of  the  poop,  and  after  gazing 
sternly  at  the  group,  during  which  the  sailors  shifted  a  bit 
uneasily  from  one  leg  to  another,  pulling  their  pipes  from  their 
mouths  and  sinking  the  animation  in  their  gestures  and  voices, 
though  the  girls  gabbled  without  heeding  my  surveyal,  looking 
my  way  once  or  twice,  but  talking  with  tosses  of  the  head  and 
laughter  all  the  same,  I  called  to  Brigstock. 

"  Who  are  those  women  ?  " 

"  That  there  big  un,"  said  he,  "  with  the  projecting  teeth  is 
Emma  Grubb,  Isaac  Coffin's  pardner.  T'other  with  the  great 
red  arms  is  Kate  Davis,  Jupe  Jackson's  choice." 

"  Coffin's  that  man  there  with  the  mustache  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  And  Jackson's  the  short  fat  fellow  with  the  pig's  eyes?" 


THE  " PARDNERS."  145 

44  That's  Jupe,"  he  answered. 

I  had  nothing  to  say.  Since  those  women  were  "  pardners  " 
of  two  of  the  men  who  were  yarning  at  the  galley  door,  I  could 
not  interfere  ;  the  contention  of  the  crew  would  be  that  they 
had  a  right  to  talk  with  the  women  who  had  agreed  to  become 
their  wives,  providing  they  behaved  decorously,  and  did  not 
meddle  with  the  others,  and  I  must  look  for  resistance  and 
difficulties  I  should  be  mad  to  challenge  if  I  attempted  to 
arrest  their  intercourse. 

As  far  as  I  could  judge,  Jack  had  chosen  with  strict  regard 
to  his  old  traditions.  There  were  several  pretty  women 
among  the  emigrants.  Some  of  them  might  have  been  glad 
to  accept  the  sailors  as  husbands,  and  welcomed  with  delight 
the  forecastle  scheme  of  an  ocean  paradise  of  capsized  customs. 
But  Jack,  to  be  sure,  must  pick  out  the  ugliest  and  the  coarsest. 
Emma  Grubb  was  as  rough  a  wench  as  ever  I  saw — and  many 
have  I  seen — a  smack  apprentice  in  petticoats  ;  while  Kate 
Davis,  with  arms  as  massive  as  a  drayman's  legs,  and  a  wide 
spread  of  flat,  coarsely  cut,  somewhat  meaningless  face,  framed 
with  hair  like  yarns  of  coir  rope,  might  have  passed  as  a  young 
butcher  in  his  Mary  Anna's  clothes. 

Yet  Jack  might  be  right,  after  all.  Those  Kates  and 
Emmas — not  your  niminy-piminy,  fair-browed  lollipops  of  the 
counter  and  the  servants  'all — are  your  true  mothers  for  a 
British  settlement  :  broad-backed,  deep-bosomed  lasses,  ugly 
as  sin,  but  hearty  as  mules  ;  the  proper  sort  of  creatures  to 
dig,  to  hew,  to  help  build,  to  breed,  and  to  rear.  I  turned 
away  with  a  laugh  after  another  look  ;  those  arms  of  yours, 
Kate  Davis,  thought  I,  once  the  halyards  were  within  your 
grasp,  would  hoist  the  flag  of  our  country  moon  high.  'Tis 
the  likes  of  you,  you  beauty,  who  do  the  real  work  of  coloni- 
zation. 

"  D'jer  mind  letting  us  know  where  the  ship  is  ? "  said  Brig- 
stock. 

I  named  the  vessel's  position. 

"  And  the  course  for  the  Horn  ?  " 

"  Is  the  course  she's  heading  on,"  I  answered. 

He  smiled  gravely  and  turned  his  dark  eyes  in  a  slow, 
thoughtful  stare  round  the  sea.  Just  then  it  fell  a  glass  calm, 
with  a  sound  in  the  sudden  dying  of  the  wind  like  a  strange 
strong  sigh  running  through  the  atmosphere  ;  the  canvas  came 
in  to  the  masts  with  a  single  clap  ;  it  made  you  think  of  the 
ship  sucking  in  her  cheeks  in  expectation.  In  a  minute  I  saw 
a  light  blue  shadow  on  the  sea  line  off  the  port  bow  under 
some  cold  streaks  of  lavender  cloud  there,  and  as  the  wind 


146  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

came  along  I  watched  the  trade  cloud  rising  like  balls  of  pow- 
der smoke  from  the  mouths  of  cannon.  The  water  darkened 
and  crisped  into  wrinkles,  and  broke  in  quick  flashes,  but  the 
blue  sky  was  shaded  with  sailing  vapor  to  pass  our  mastheads 
ere  the  breeze  took  us. 

The  wind  found  us  ready  trimmed  with  boarded  tacks,  taut 
bowlines,  the  yards  well  fore  and  aft,  though  not  "  sweated," 
as  we  say,  for  I  was  ever  of  opinion  that  to  make  a  good  pas- 
sage you  must  make  a  fair  wind.  The  women  came  out  of  the 
'tween  decks  when  they  heard  the  sailors  singing  out  at  the 
ropes,  and  filled  the  ship  with  the  life  of  fluttering  colored  rai- 
ment and  trembling  feathers  and  streaming  bonnet  ribbons 
like  Irish  pennants.  This  was  the  first  of  the  southeast  trade 
wind,  and  it  came  fresh  in  its  earliest  breath  and  hardened 
quickly,  till  at  half-past  one  hands  were  aloft  furling  the  three 
royals  ;  the  flying  jib  halyards  had  been  let  go,  and  we  were 
waiting  till  the  light  canvas  was  stowed  to  take  the  great  main- 
sail off  her. 

All  aslant,  the  white  brine  bursting  from  her  weather  bow, 
dipping  steadily  through  the  seas,  which  ran  with  little  weight 
as  yet,  the  fine  ship  smoked  through  it  in  her  sudden  meteoric 
flight,  a  sheet  of  spreading  foam  hissing  to  leeward,  silver  fires 
flaming  from  everything  bright  upon  her  decks,  her  gilded 
globes  of  trucks  shining  like  stars  at  each  masthead.  In  that 
time  of  waiting  for  the  men  to  haul  up  the  mainsail  I  found 
myself  admiring  the  picture  of  that  ship  as  something  more 
shapely  and  glittering,  richer  in  hue,  more  radiant  where  all 
was  whiteness  than  any  fabric  I  had  ever  sailed  in  or  that  my 
imagination  could  have  figured. 

I  did  not  leave  the  deck  till  I  had  seen  all  necessary  sail 
shortened.  Gouger  had  reported  dinner  ready  half  an  hour 
befo're,  Harding  was  left  in  charge  of  the  deck,  and  I  entered 
the  cuddy,  followed  after  a  little  while  by  Brigstock,  wonder- 
ing when  I  was  to  find  an  opportunity  for  spinning  a  yarn  with 
Kate  Darnley,  surprised,  too,  by  the  heap  of  business  which  had 
kept  me  occupied  all  the  morning. 

I  had  taken  my  seat  and  was  pegging  away  when  Brig- 
stock  arrived  ;  they  had  killed  me  a  fowl  ;  that  and  a  piece  of 
boiled  pork  was  to  supply  me  with  as  good  a  meal  as  the  skip- 
per of  a  trader  was  like  to  get  in  those  clays  of  pig  and  old 
horse,  with  a  mess  of  fresh  pork  at  intervals  when  a  hog  was 
dispatched.  Brigstock  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  companion 
steps  and  said  : 

"  If  it's  not  your  wish,  capt'n,  that  I  should  eat  aft  here  along 
with  you  say  the  word.  I'm  a  plain  sailor  and  no  mate  ; 


THE   "  PARDNERS."  M7 

you're  a  gemman,  and  it  might  be  that  you'd  object  to  sit 
down  with  the  likes  of  me." 

I  answered  by  pointing  to  a  chair,  and  at  once  helped  him  to 
some  fowl  and  pork. 

"  I  may  tell  you,"  said  he,  looking  at  his  plate,  "that  the 
crew  have  nothen  to  say  against  my  eating  aft  of  such  vittles 
as  is  put  upon  this  table.  Of  course  they  recognize  me  as 
mate,  and  a  mate's  got  a  right  to  live  in  the  cabin.  Still,  as 
I'm  but  a  fo'c's'le  hand  myself,  I  shouldn't  feel  heasy  in  par- 
taking of  sooperior  grub  if  my  mates  thought  it  warn't  fair." 

"  I  respect  your  shipmatish  views,"  said  I,  "but  you  don't 
want  me  to  tell  you  that  all  hands  can't  live  aft." 

"  No,  sir.  But  my  notions  of  the  laws  of  property  don't 
allow  of  my  enjoying  what  the  rest  of  us  aint  getting. 
I  dorn't  say  it  can  be  helped  here.  The  only  way  I  can 
reconcile  this  here  living  with  my  conscience  and  principles," 
he  added,  forking  up  the  leg  of  fowl  I  had  helped  him  to,  "  is 
to  fare  just  as  they  do  forward.  I'll  keep  this  piece  of  pork, 
this  here  leg  I'll  retarn,"  and  so  saying  he  put  it  on  the  dish. 

Come,  thought  I,  this,  if  not  an  honest,  is  at  all  events  a  fair 
man. 

"  In  your  new  settlement,"  said  I,  "  all  are  to  fare  alike  ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  A  man  '11  fare  according  as  he  produces.  But 
we  should  all  be  alike.  We're  all  alike  when  we're  dead  and 
aint  of  no  use  ;  I'm  for  being  alike  while  we're  alive  and  are 
of  use." 

"  You'll  find  that  the  little  potatoes  will  get  to  the  bottom 
quite  in  the  old  manner." 

"  Aye,  but  they're  potatoes  all  the  same.  Joe  or  Jim  aint 
to  forfeit  his  claims  upon  us  as  a  man  because  he  aint  born 
with  Jack's  hintellect  or  Jupe's  cunning.  You  can't  have 
a  family  that's  all  big  brothers.  In  our  settlement  we'll  judge 
of  a  man  as  yer  judge  of  a  clock — by  his  works.  Do  'e  keep 
time  ?  We  aint  a-goin'  to  quarrel  with  a  man  for  bein'  a  three- 
an'-sixpenny  Dutch  clock  'stead  of  a  sixty-guinea  chreenom- 
eter.  Do  'e  keep  time  at  three  an'  sixpence  ?  That's  it." 

I  saw  an  argument  on  politics,  religion,  political  economy, 
and  other  such  things  strong  in  the  man's  grave  face  and  slow, 
earnest  eyes,  and  changed  the  subject  by  explaining  how  my 
calculations  as  to  the  stock  of  water  and  provisions  had 
worked  out.  I  then  said,  with  a  glance  at  the  table,  that 
looked  very  hospitable  indeed  with  the  spirits,  the  wine,  and 
the  bottled  beer  which  Gouger  had  set  upon  it : 

"  I  mean  to  bring  Miss  Kate  Darnley  to  live  aft  here." 

"  Will  that  be  hadvisable  ?  "  he  said. 


148  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"Why  not  ? "  I  asked  quickly,  ill-pleased  with  the  remark 
that  was  like  running  athwart  the  hawse  of  my  command. 

"  Wouldn't  it  lead  to  ill  feeling?"  said  he,  masticating  at  the 
rate  of  about  a  bite  every  two  seconds.  "  There's  Miss  Cobbs. 
She'd  naturally  wonder  if  your.pardner  was  here  that  she 
wasn't  called  aft  too.  That  'ud  come  personal  as  'twixt  her 
and  me.  The  saliors  'ud  say,  We  don't  want  to  live  aft  our- 
selves, but  our  pardners  are  emigrant  folk  the  same  as  Miss 
Darnley,  no  better  and  no  worse  so  far  as  her  situation  goes, 
and  we've  got  nothen  to  do  with  her  hextraction  ;  and  if  Miss 
Darnley's  to  live  and  eat  in  the  cabin,  our  pardners  shall  take 
up  their  quarters  there  too  !  They  might  reason  this  way  ; 
I  dorn't  say  they'd  talk  so." 

I  reflected  and  said,  "  You  may  be  right.  Yet  the  services 
I  am  rendering  you  give  me  certain  claims,  and  if  it's  my  wish 
that  Miss  Darnley  should  live  here  you  and  your  crew  should 
consent." 

"  I  beg  you  won't  insist  upon  it,  sir,"  he  exclaimed,  helping 
himself  to  a  glass  of  water — he  had  drunk  nothing  but  half 
a  gill  of  rum  diluted  into  a  pannikinful  of  almost  tasteless 
amber  fluid.  "  All's  going  along  smooth.  All's  likely  to  keep 
so.  I'm  for  leaving  well  alone.  'Sides,  would  it  be  the  right 
thing  for  the  young  party  to  come  and  live  solitary  aft  here 
away  from  the  rest  of  the  females  ? " 

All  the  while  we  talked  the  women  on  the  quarter-deck  were 
coming  and  going  as  before  at  the  door  and  windows,  staring 
at  us  in  knots  of  pale,  eager  faces.  I  glanced  up  at  the  sky- 
light and  said,  not  choosing  to  pursue  the  subject  of  Kate's 
living  aft : 

"  Now  that  the  ship  has  a  commander,  the  poop,  I  presume, 
is  to  be  kept  for  the  use  of  him  and  the  mates  ? " 

"  Aint  that  as  you'd  wish  it,  sir?  Us  men  are  for  carrying 
on  everything  exactly  as  it  was  under  Dr.  Rolt  and  Captain 
Halcrow." 

"  Are  the  crew  going  to  grumble  if  I  bring  Miss  Darnley  on 
to  the  poop  ?  " 

"  No  ;  she's  your  friend  ;  you  must  talk  with  her  somewhere. 
As  master  of  the  vessel  your  place  is  aft." 

I  looked  at  the  man  attentively,  and  thought  to  myself  : 
there  are  qualities  in  that  rude,  illiterate,  unpicturesque  sea- 
dog  that,  unless  I  mind  my  eye,  will  as  certainly  dominate 
me  as  they've  dominated  the  crew.  Pity  for  him  that  he'd 
never  learned  navigation  in  his  time.  What  better  man  to  take 
charge  of  a  ship  ?  He  should  have  hailed  from  some  New 
England  Quaker  settlement,  so  slow  he  was,  so  wary,  exact, 


THE    "  PAKDA'EKS."  149 

yet  capable  of  lying  like  a  pickpocket  on  occasion,  that  is, 
when  business  made  demands  upon  his  judgment,  though 
skilled  in  the  art  of  forgiving  himself  and  discovering  reasons 
that  could  never  fail  to  convince  his  conscience. 

"  Mr.  Brigstock,"  said  I,  rising,  "  when  this  table  is  clear  get 
Miss  Cobbs  to  select  certain  women  to  represent  the  emigrants 
and  let  them  assemble  here." 

"  Aye,  aye,  sir,"  he  answered,  and  walked  straight  on  to  the 
quarter-deck. 

I  was  half  an  hour  in  my  cabin  ;  while  there  I  heard  some 
of  the  women  coming  into  the  cuddy.  When  I  stepped  out  I 
found  twelve  of  them  at  the  table.  The  first  my  eye  fell  on 
was  Kate  Darnley.  Another  was  the  coarsely  handsome, 
wild-haired,  powerfully  built  young  woman,  Alice  Perry  ;  she 
grinned  with  a  very  glare  of  strong  white  teeth  on  meeting  my 
eyes,  and  nodded  cheekily.  A  third  was  Miss  Cobbs,  the 
matron.  She  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  table,  evidently  waiting 
for  me  to  appear. 

I  stepped  forth  holding  a  chart  of  the  world  ;  the  girls  eyed 
it  as  though  it  had  been  a  loaded  blunderbuss.  I  at  once 
shook  hands  with  Kate  and  placed  myself  at  her  side.  Brig- 
stock  overhead  looked  down  at  us  through  the  open  skylight. 
The  quarter-deck  was  crowded  with  women,  who  filled  the 
doorway  and  blocked  the  windows,  but  someone,  probably 
Miss  Cobbs,  had  stationed  a  seaman  to  guard  the  entrance. 
He  stood  doggedly  in  the  doorway  with  his  back  upon  the 
girls,  one  of  whom  on  catching  sight  of  me  snapped  out 
shrilly  over  his  shoulder,  "Why  aint  us  all  to  be  let 
in?" 

I  wished  to  get  through  this  business,  and  addressed  the 
girls  at  once. 

"  There  was  no  need  to  bring  all  the  ladies  in  here.  You'll 
repeat  to  the  others  what  I'm  going  to  say.  I  want  to  make 
your  minds  easy  as  to  your  ultimate  arrival  in  Australia.  I'm 
in  charge  of  this  ship,  and  hope  to  see  my  way,  when  we've  put 
Mr.  Brigstock  and  his  party  ashore,  to  carry  you  safely  to 
Sydney." 

"How  long's  it  going  to  take  ?"  asked  one  of  the  girls. 

"  Miss  Wright,  you're  not  to  interrupt,"  cried  Miss  Cobbs. 

"  It's  along  oiyou  that  the  respectable  ones  among  us  are 
being  made  sick  and  ill  with  worriting  and  anxiety,"  said  the 
young  woman  Alice  Perry,  darting  a  mutinous,  flashing  look 
at  Miss  Cobbs,  with  a  sudden  projection  of  her  head  that 
produced  the  impression  of  a  leap.  "  What's  the  like  of  you 
got  to  do  with  marrying  ?  You  ought  to  be  at  your  prayers, 


15°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

thinking  of  your  soul.  You're  old  enough  to  concern  yourself 
that  way,"  she  added,  with  a  shrill  laugh. 

"  Captain  Morgan,  I  must  ask  for  your  protection  against 
that  himpudent  woman,"  exclaimed  Miss  Cobbs.  "  If  she 
persists  in  insulting  me  I'll  seek  Mr.  Brigstock's  protection," 
and  she  bestowed  a  cold,  pale,  dangerous  nod  on  Alice  Perry. 

"  Am  I  to  proceed  !  "  said  I,  looking  round  at  the  women. 

"  She's  a  saucy,  bad-tempered  woman,  but  honest  and  good- 
natured,"  whispered  Kate. 

Alice  Perry  got  up  and  came  to  my  side,  and  said,  pointing 
at  Miss  Cobbs,  "  Her  very  looks  riles  me.  She's  hated  by  all 
as  aint  of  her  party.  Oh,  I'm  not  afraid  of  you  nor  of  your 
old  Tommy  Brigstock  either,"  she  shouted,  looking  up  at  the 
skylight.  "  When  I'm  in  earnest  the  fur  flies,  as  the  cat 
says." 

Some  laughter  in  the  doorway  and  windows  attended  this  ; 
the  sailor's  figure  shook,  while  he  hid  his  mouth  with  his  bare 
arm. 

Brigstock,  who  all  this  while  was  standing  above,  shouted 
down,  "  I'd  advise  yer  to  keep  a  civil  tongue  in  yer  mouth. 
I  don't  want  to  fall  foul  of  yer,  but  I'll  ask  no  man's  leave  to 
protect  my  pardner  from  the  himperance  of  such  trollops  as 
you." 

"  Oh,  dear  !  Oh,  dear  !  Let's  hear  what  the  captain  has  to 
say,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  girls,  a  mild-looking  creature  with 
a  gentle  voice,  dressed  in  well-worn  black. 

I  unrolled  the  chart  upon  the  table.  "  Here's  the  world. 
Gather  around,  young  ladies,  and  look  for  yourselves." 

They  came  together  in  a  squeeze  of  eager  figures  ;  some 
were  without  hats  or  bonnets  ;  here  and  there  a  cheap  ring 
glittered  upon  a  toil-reddened  hand.  I  don't  know  what  idea 
had  governed  Miss  Cobbs  in  her  choice  of  these  women  as 
representatives  ;  it  might  be  that  they  illustrated  the  several 
walks  of  the  emigrants.  The  mild  young  person  in  black  I 
afterward  heard  was  a  governess. 

Pointing  to  the  chart  with  a  ruler,  I  bade  the  girls  observe 
that  the  distance  to  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  by  Cape  Horn 
was  much  about  the  same  as  the  distance  to  it  by  way  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

"  Why's  the  one  road  always  took  then  ?  "  inquired  Miss 
Alice  Perry. 

"  Because  of  the  winds,"  said  I. 

She  stared  at  me  distrustfully. 

"  I've  told  the  young  ladies  time  out  of  mind  that  there's 
no  difference  worth  naming  in  the  distance,"  said  Miss  Cobbs. 


THE  "PARDNERS."  I$I 

"  But  we've  got  to  hunt  about  for  an  island,  haven't  we  ? " 
said  a  girl. 

"Yes.  That  won't  take  long,  and  a  few  weeks  more  or 
less  must  signify  nothing  to  people  in  your  situation.  Why, 
without  a  navigator  in  command  you  might  have  been  blown 
about  the  ocean  for  days  and  days,  so  ending  as  never  more 
to  be  heard  of." 

"  That's  quite  true,  and  ought  to  reconcile  us  to  what's 
happened,"  said  Kate. 

"  We  hope  the  captain's  telling  you  something  worth  hear- 
ing," cried  a  voice  at  one  of  the  windows. 

"  If  certain  parties  chooses  to  act  like  fools,  who  cares?" 
said  one  of  the  women.  "  We  took  passage  in  this  ship  for 
Australia,  and  we  must  go  there  and  git  there,  and  let  them 
who  want  to  live  on  an  island  with  common  sailors  hunt  about 
by  themselves." 

"  It'll  be  base  to  keep  us  poor  girls  at  sea  longer  than 
there's  need  for.  And  what  the  sailors  represent  aint  true 
neither,"  cried  a  streaky-faced  girl.  She  was  miserably  thin, 
and  trembled  from  head  to  foot  with  nervousness.  "  They 
say  there's  no  chance  of  girls  getting  married  in  Australia." 

"  Old  Tommy  read  out  a  piece  about  it,"  whipped  in  Alice 
Perry.  "  One  of  them  lies  yer  to  believe  true  'cos  it's  in  print. 
Ha,  ha  !  " 

"  But  Mr.  Brigstock's  got  to  discover  folks  know  the  truth 
for  themselves,"  said  the  girl  whom  Perry  had  interrupted, 
diving  into  the  pocket  of  her  dress  and  bringing  out  a  purse 
which  she  opened  with  agitation  pitiful  to  behold.  "  This  was 
copied  out  of  a  newspaper  and  sent  to  me  by  my  uncle."  And 
in  a  high-pitched  voice,  shivering  with  nerve,  she  read  out  this  : 

"  WIDE  BAY  AND  BURNETT  DISTRICTS — THE  ORPHAN  GIRLS. 

"  To  the  Editors  of  the  Sydney  Morning  Herald : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  While  the  government  pretend  they  do  not 
know  what  to  do  with  these  girls,  they  entirely  neglect  the  north- 
ern and  rapidly  increasing  Wide  Bay  and  Burnett  River  Dis- 
tricts. On  the  Burnett,  Severn,  Dawson,  and  Boyne  rivers 
there  is  a  large  entirely  male  population  ;  there  are  not  more 
than  six  women  in  the  whole  district,  and  those  have  arrived 
within  the  last  six  months.  If  a  vessel  was  dispatched  imme- 
diately to  Wide  Bay  with  two  hundred  of  these  girls  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  stating  the  whole  of  them  could  be  married 
in  two  months.  Yours,  etc., 

"  A  BUSHMAN." 


152  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Her  shaking  hand  dropped  the  purse,  and  after  pocketing 
it  she  sank  back  as  though  in  a  swoon. 

"I'll  say  again  that  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,"  exclaimed 
Miss  Cobbs,  folding  her  arms  and  tightening  her  lips  into  a  line 
thin  as  a  pen  stroke. 

"  But  we're  not  all  going  out  with  ideas  of  getting  married," 
said  a  girl  remarkable  for  the  burning  scarlet  of  her  scanty 
hair.  "  I'm  one  of  most  who  thinks  only  of  a  situation  and 
wages." 

"  Will  Miss  Cobbs  tell  us  there's  no  situations  to  be  got  and 
no  wages  to  be  'ad  ?"  said  Alice  Perry,  with  a  sneer. 

"  I  can  tell  Alice  Perry  that  situations  are  by  no  means 
plentiful  in  Sydney  nor  in  Melbourne  neither,  and  wages  not 
one  whit  better  than  she  can  get  at  'ome,"  exclaimed  Miss 
Cobbs. 

"  Cooks  'ave  twenty-two  pound,"  said  the  scarlet-haired 
girl,  "'ousemaids  fifteen,  and  general  servants  twenty-six. 
So  I  was  told,  and  am  emigrating  in  consequence.  But  I 
think  we've  been  put  into  this  ship  only  to  be  deceived  and 
drownded." 

I  was  growing  tired  of  all  this.  "  See  here,  ladies,"  said  I, 
flourishing  my  ruler  over  the  chart,  "  here's  the  situation  of 
the  ship  to-day.  There's  Australia,  d'ye  see?  Instead  of 
going  round  to  it  by  this  cape  we'll  steer  to  it  by  that.  All 
these  dots  signify  islands,  and  one  of  them  will  be  the  island 
Mr.  Brigstock's  party  want.  Mr.  Brigstock  and  I  will  take 
care  to  be  quick  in  finding  it.  Suppose  that  island's  situated 
here,"  said  I,  pointing,  "look  what  a  straight  course  we  can 
make  for  Sydney,  which  is  there.  We  shall  procure  the  help 
we  need  among  the  islands,  and  the  ship  will  arrive  at  Sydney 
a  month  or  so  later  than  her  date." 

I  rolled  up  the  chart  to  let  the  women  know  I  had  nothing 
more  to  say.  They  had  no  notion,  however,  of  terminating 
this  interview.  They  wanted  to  know  if  I  was  captain.  I 
answered  I  was.  Couldn't  captains  do  whatever  they  pleased  ? 
No,  they  could  do  only  what  was  right.  Warn't  it  my  duty  to 
sail  the  ship  direct  to  Sydney  and  see  the  women  safe  on 
shore,  leaving  those  who  had  taken  up  with  the  common 
sailors  to  find  an  island  for  themselves?  I  answered  that  one 
condition  of  my  command  was  that  I  should  help  Brigstock  and 
his  party  to  find  an  island  and  land  them  on  it.  If  I  refused 
to  do  this  the  men  would  not  have  me  as  their  captain. 

This  raised  a  hubbub.  All  talked  at  once.  It  was  impossi- 
ble to  understand  the  questions  screeched  at  me.  I  saw  Alice 
Perry  eyeing  Miss  Cobbs  with  a  nasty  face  of  temper.  The 


A    CHAT    WITH  KATE.  153 

scarlet-haired  girl  flourished  her  fist,  yelping  out  her  questions 
and  protests  in  a  voice  like  a  lapdog's  bark.  The  confusion 
was  increased  by  the  women  on  the  quarter-deck  calling  to 
those  within.  To  silence  and  end  it  all  I  told  Kate  to  go  on 
deck  by  way  of  the  companion  ladder,  and  re-entered  my 
cabin. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

A    CHAT    WITH    KATE. 

BY  and  by,  hearing  nothing,  I  looked  out  and  found  the 
cuddy  empty.  I  went  on  deck  and  was  immediately  accosted 
by  Brigstock. 

"  There's  nothen  to  be  done  by  reasoning  kindly.  Might  as 
well  try  to  rear  a  dog  on  cabbage  as  to  make  some  of  them 
gurls  see  straight." 

"They  want  to  get  to  Australia." 

"What's  to  stop  'em  ?  I  never  kept  a  servant  myself,  but 
I've  always  onderstood  that  cholera's  mild  as  a  plague  com- 
pared to  'em.  If  these  are  the  rig'lar  style  of  cooks  and 
'ousemaids  it's  astonishin'  the  country  han't  drawed  long  ago 
upon  China  for  domestics." 

"  Does  your  scheme  of  a  settlement  include  servants  ?" 

"  No  fear  !  All  '11  be  level  and  sarvice  mutual  help.  Cap- 
tain," he  exclaimed,  fastening  his  eyes  with  a  serious  look 
upon  me,  "  it'll  make  us  men  feel  heasy  in  hour  minds  to  larn 
that  your  sympathies  han't  been  courted  altogether  into  the 
'tween  decks  ? " 

"  Mr.  Brigstock, "said  I  with  some  sternness,  "  I  was  brought 
fraudulently  into  this  ship  and  forced,  as  you  know,  to  accept 
this  position  of  command.  I  say  forced,"  I  added  deliberately 
and  slowly,  "  because,  though  I  heard  no  threats,  how  would 
you  have  used  me  had  I  declined  ?  It  can  matter  to  no  one  in 
what  direction  my  sympathies  lean.  Be  you  civil  and  obedient, 
sir,  and  let  your  crew  act  as  though  they  fully  understood  I'm 
master  and  not  man  aboard  this  ship,  and  you  shall  have  no 
cause  to  complain." 

I  walked  to  the  break  of  the  poop,  leaving  him  to  chew  upon 
what  I  had  said. 

The  fresh  trade  gale  was  blowing  a  strong  and  pleasant 
wind  ;  the  hard  green  horizon  ran  brilliantly  clear,  as  though 
viewed  through  a  lens,  and  off  the  edge  of  it  the  trade  clouds 
were  soaring  and  spreading,  fleecy  and  silky  and  flying,  like 
blown  cobwebs.  The  seas  were  rolling  in  steady  lines  of  a 


154  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

dark  blue,  splendid  with  the  translucent  veiling  sparkles  of 
spray.  The  ship  drove  through  it  with  stately  steadiness, 
bursting  the  sea  into  clouds  of  snow  ahead  of  her,  with  rhythmic 
rolls  to  windward  which  swung  the  harmonies  of  fifty  organs 
out  of  her  rigging  into  the  wind.  She  bore  well  the  canvas 
she  had,  but  she  needed  no  more. 

After  I  had  stood  some  minutes  in  silence,  waiting  for  the 
temper  to  cool-in  me,  I  called  to  Brigstock  to  get  the  log  hove. 
Some  men  came  aft ;  the  reel  rattled  like  castanets  as  Brig- 
stock  helped  the  log  line.  "  Stop  !  "  roared  Jupe  Jackson, 
dropping  the  log  glass  from  the  level  of  his  eyes.  "  Eleven 
and  a  'alf  !  "  shouted  Brigstock  after  fumbling  at  the  knots, 
and  the  line  was  then  dragged  dripping  over  the  quarter. 

Eleven  and  a  half  on  a  taut  bowline  and  the  royals,  mizzen 
topgallant  sail,  mainsail,  and  flying  jib  off  her  !  This  was 
sailing  to  fit  the  records  of  something  out  of  Aberdeen  rather 
than  a  Thames  keel.  How  will  I  be  treated  if  I  save  the  ship  ? 
thought  I,  with  such  a  momentary  glow  of  spirits  as  I  watched 
the  motions  of  the  beautiful  vessel  that,  had  I  been  her  owner, 
I  could  not  have  felt  more  pride  and  delight  in  her  beauty  and 
swiftness. 

Seeing  Kate  Darnley  on  the  main  deck  talking  to  a  girl  near 
the  hatch,  I  beckoned  and  went  halfway  down  the  ladder  to 
receive  her. 

"  Can't  we  talk  down  here?  "  said  she. 

"  Yes.     But  the  poop's  my  own  territory,  so  step  up,  I  beg." 

She  mounted  the  steps  reluctantly  and  exclaimed,  "  I  ought 
not  to  be  where  the  rest  are  not  allowed.  The  voyage  will  be 
very  uncomfortable  if  anything's  done  to  excite  the  women's 
envy  or  jealousy." 

I  answered  that  my  place  was  aft,  that  I  might  forfeit  some- 
thing of  dignity  if  I  talked  among  the  women  upon  the  quarter- 
deck, and  told  her  what  Brigstock  had  said  on  the  subject. 
This  seemed  to  ease  her  mind,  and  she  crossed  with  me  to  the 
weather  side  of  the  poop,  which  we  forthwith  fell  to  patrolling, 
Brigstock  at  once  stepping  to  the  fore  end,  where  he  stood 
watching  the  ship,  sometimes  motionless  at  the  head  of  the 
ladder,  sometimes  stalking  with  solemn  mien  athwart. 

"  You  can  see  the  ocean  up  here,"  said  I  ;  "  the  bulwarks 
hide  the  sea  from  the  main  deck." 

"  I'd  thankfully  live  aft,"  she  answered,  with  a  spirited  smile 
and  a  dancing  look  of  kindling  pleasure  in  her  eyes,  which 
were  as  bright  as  health  and  youth  could  make  them,  nay,  the 
brighter  just  then  perhaps  for  the  color  which  the  strong  wind 
had  painted  on  her  cheeks.  "  But  I'm  just  a  poor  female 


A    CHAT    WITH  KATE.  155 

emigrant,  and  what's  good  for  the  others  must  be  good  for 
me." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I'm  glad  you  hold  those  views.  You  don't 
want  me  to  tell  you  what  I'd  like.  But  Brigstock  objects. 
His  objection  is  the  crew's,  and  we  want  no  trouble." 

"  Don't  let's  talk  about  me.  Will  you  be  able  to  sail  this 
ship  to  Sydney  ?" 

"  Why,  yes." 

"  Then  I  suppose  they'll  give  you  command  of  her  ?  That 
will  please  your  father  and  dear  Mrs.  Morgan.  How  little 
they  imagine  down  in  quiet  Blathford  that  we  are  together 
here  !  What  a  situation  to  find  ourselves  in  !  When  you  told 
us  some  stories  of  the  sea  that  first  night  of  our  meeting  at 
your  father's,  I  thought  nothing  could  be  more  wonderful,  and 
suspected  that  sometimes  you  invented.  Now  look  at  this  ! 
I  have  come  to  sea  for  some  purpose  indeed  !  I  shall  be  able 
to  talk  too." 

"  And  be  suspected  of  invention  also.  More  goes  on  at 
sea  than  it's  in  the  philosophy  of  the  landlubber  to  compass. 
Tell  me  what  you  can  recollect  of  this  ship  having  been  struck 
by  lightning." 

"  We  had  been  sent  below.  The  hatch  was  covered,  so  we 
saw  no  flash,  but  we  heard  it,  and  there  was  a  general  shriek. 
The  sound  was  as  though  a  gun  had  burst.  Some  of  the 
women  sank  upon  their  knees  and  prayed.  One  of  the  girls 
went  into  hysterics  and  screamed  dreadfully.  When  we  were 
let  out  we  were  told  that  the  doctor  had  been  struck  dead  and 
the  captain  blinded." 

"  Then  the  mate  jumped  overboard  in  a  fit  of  madness  ?  " 

"  Afterward." 

"  Next  you  spoke  a  ship,  and  the  blinded  captain,  second 
mate,  bo'sun,  and  some  seamen  boarded  her  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  A  sudden  violent  change  of  weather  separated  the  two 
vessels  ? " 

"All  that  you  say  happened." 

"  Then  for  sure,"  said  I,  "  Brigstock  and  the  men  are  not 
responsible  in  any  way  for  the  situation  in  which  I  found  this 
ship.  But  what  beats  my  time's  this  :  how  in  jokes  came 
those  fellows  in  ten  days  to  find  wives,  and  work  out  a  scheme 
for  founding  a  republic  in  the  South  Pacific  ?  " 

"  They  must  answer  for  themselves,"  she  replied.  "  I  keep 
to  myself,  and  I  therefore  knew  little  of  what  was  going  on. 
In  that  time  of  our  being  without  a  commander  I'd  some- 
times see  Brigstock  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  number  of 


156  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

women,  addressing  them  after  the  manner  of  outdoor  preach- 
ers. I  listened  to  him  once  ;  I  did  not  understand  what  he 
said ;  he  talked  of  the  head  of  a  state  as  a  magistrate  too, 
receiving  his  powers  from  the  people,  could  marry,  divorce, 
baptize,  decide  causes,  try  people  for  their  lives,  and  so  on. 
I  noticed  that  in  a  few  days  he  obtained  a  wonderful  influence 
over  certain  of  the  women.  They'd  assemble  with  the  sailors 
on  the  poop,  and  the  rest  of  us  down  on  that  deck  there  would 
hear  Brigstock's  voice  groaning  as  he  sermonized  or  ex- 
pounded. We  then  heard,  in  a  sort  of  gossiping  way,  that 
when  the  men  procured  a  navigator  they  intended  to  carry  this 
ship  to  an  island  and  settle  down  with  the  women  upon  it." 

"  Miss  Cobbs  is  one  of  those  women  ?  " 

"  Could  you  believe  such  a  thing  ?  But  what  will  not  some 
women  do  to  get  married  ?  You  have  talked  with  Brigstock  ; 
is  he  sincere  in  this  island  scheme  of  his,  do  you  think  ?  Or 
are  he  and  the  crew  masking  something  dreadful?" 

She  said  this,  and  stopped  me  as  we  walked  to  look  me  full 
in  the  face  with  a  gaze  of  almost  impassioned  anxiety. 

"  Brigstock's  quite  sincere,"  I  answered  after  reflecting. 
"  The  man's  just  a  walking  heap  of  vulgar  vanity  and  egotism. 
He's  one  of  those  fellows  who  fancy  that,  had  they  been  better 
born  and  better  educated,  they'd  be  great  men.  He's  like  a 
second  mate  I  once  sailed  with,  who,  believing  himself  a  poet, 
would  exclaim,  '  Ah,  if  I  had  but  the  language  !  '  But  Brig- 
stock  and  the  crew  are  in  earnest.  You  may  believe  that." 

From  time  to  time  as  we  walked  Brigstock,  at  the  break  of 
the  poop,  would  view  us  with  a  grave,  thoughtful,  askant  stare. 
It  was  drawing  on  to  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  ;  the  sun- 
light was  a  glorious  moist  yellow,  and  the  wide  roaring  hol- 
lows astern  of  us  were  flecked  with  the  following  sea  birds. 
Many  women  were  on  the  main  and  quarter-decks  ;  in  the 
heart  of  a  crowd  of  them  abreast  of  the  galley  I  spied  Alice 
Perry  ;  she  was  declaiming  as  though  inspired,  extending  her 
hands  and  posture-making  with  the  skill  of  an  actress.  A 
sailor  "  seizing  "  a  ratline  in  the  fore  shrouds  stopped  often 
to  peer  through  the  spread  of  ropes,  fixedly  smiling  at  the 
listening  crowd.  Now  and  again,  as  Kate  and  I  approached 
the  forward  end  of  the  poop,  some  of  the  women  looked  as 
though  they  talked  of  us. 

"  It  strikes  me,"  said  I,  "they'll  be  thinking  you  and  I  have 
become  pardners,  and  mean  to  settle  with  the  others." 

"  I'll  undeceive  them." 

"  Poor  wretches!  If  you  and  I  are  to  leave  them  with 
Brigstock,  what'll  they  do  with  the  ship  ?  " 


A    CHAT    WITH  KATE.  157 

"  Let's  talk  of  things  as  they  are  and  may  be," 'she  exclaimed. 

"  Maybe,"  I  answered,  smiling  at  her.  "  Who's  to  know  but 
that  Brigstock  '11  convert  me  to  his  scheme,  in  which  case  you'd 
become  my  pardner,  wouldn't  you,  Kate  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  delightful  to  be  imprisoned  in  an  island  with 
Brigstock  and  his  crew,  and  twelve  cooks  and  housemaids. 
I  can't  believe  the  creatures  are  in  earnest.  And  yet  I  can 
appreciate  the  reality  of  the  thing  too  when  I  run  through 
the  sailors'  choosings  or  look  at  the  consenting  women.  I'll 
give  you  some  of  their  names  :  There  are  Emma  Grubb  and 
Kate  Davis,  and  two  sisters,  Jess  and  Nan  Honeyball.  That's 
Jess  there,  standing  by  the  mainmast,  the  girl  with  her  hands 
upon  her  hips  and  her  mouth  open,  looking  toward  Alice 
Perry.  The  seamen  have  picked  out  the  coarsest,  and  per- 
haps the  ugliest.  Would  not  the  heads  of  such  women  be 
easily  turned,  not  only  by  the  idea  of  getting  a  husband  apiece, 
but  by  Brigstock's  talk  of  a  lovely  island,  blushing  with 
flowers  and  fruits,  where  there  are  no  mistresses,  and  where 
every  Sunday  is  your  own  Sunday  out  ?  " 

She  stopped  again,  this  time  to  laugh  loudly  at  some  absurd 
thought.  Brigstock  looked  at  us,  and  meeting  my  eye,  smiled 
gravely. 

"  Kate,"  said  I,  "you  have  told  me  nothing  about  yourself 
as  yet." 

"'What's  there  to  tell?" 

"  Here  you  are,  an  emigrant.     What's  your  errand  ?  " 

"  You  know  I  left  England  that  I  might  not  starve.  I  may 
not  starve  on  board  this  ship — though  who's  to  tell  what  '11 
happen  ?  "  said  she,  coiling  a  tress  of  hair  that  had  blown 
loose  behind  her  ear.  "  Perhaps  I'm  going  to  a  harder  lot  in 
Australia  than  I've  left."  With  a  bitter  shake  of  head,  "  No  !  " 
she  added,  "that  would  be  impossible." 

"You  have  no  friends  in  the  colony." 

"None." 

"  Have  you  any  money  ?  " 

"  Ten  pounds,"  she  answered  artlessly. 

"You  have  bought  clothes  and  saved  ten  pounds.  Who 
helped  you  ?  " 

"  Nobody." 

"  Why  didn't  you  apply  to  my  father  ?  He'd  have  been  glad 
to  give  his  thin  purse  a  squeeze  for  his  old  friend's  daughter. 
And  why  didn't  you  take  me  into  your  confidence?  I  could 
and  would  have  helped  you.  I  brought  a  lump  of  money  ashore 
with  me.  You  might  have  found  that  out  by  writing." 

She  looked  seaward  to  hide  her  face.     After  a  short  silence 


158  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

she  said  :  "  I  know  I  have  good  friends  in  your  father  and 
mother,  and  a  well-wisher  in  you." 

"  Oh,  ha  !  a  well-wisher — yes  !  " 

"  I  have  no  claims  upon  your  parents.  The  being  a  daughter 
of  an  old  friend  gives  me  no  right  to  trouble  them.  Had  I 
told  them  what  I  meant  to  do  they  would  have  tried  to  stop 
me.  But  in  stopping  me,  what  would  they  have  kept  me  to? 
I  don't  like  to  think  of  it.  How  should  they — how  should 
you — know  what  it  is  to  be  a  governess — at  least  in  England  ? 

I  would  rather — I  would  rather Governesses  can't  be 

worse  treated  in  Australia  than  at  home." 

"You  have  been  unfortunate  in  your  experience." 

"  Have  I  ?  There  are  two  girls  in  this  ship  who  were  gov- 
ernesses ;  they're  going  out  with  the  intention  of  teaching  in 
families.  That's  one  of  them,  the  slender  pale  girl  down 
there  with  the  light  gold  hair,  standing  alone.  I've  talked 
with  them  and  compared  notes.  Both  are  orphans  as  I  am, 
one  the  daughter  of  a  major,  the  other  of  a  painter — an  artist. 
Their  experiences  are  longer  and  wider  than  mine,  and  they 
said  had  they  remained  in  England  they  would  have  drowned 
themselves." 

"  Who  the  deuce  are  the  people,"  said  I,  "  who  make  girls 
wish  to  drown  themselves  ?  Are  they  men  ?  Oh,  to  have  them 
with  me  but  for  one  day  in  that  forecastle  yonder  !  But  aren't 
they  women  always  ?  If  the  yarns  the  novelists  spin  are  true, 
the  master  of  the  family  is  usually  disposed  to  treat  the  gover- 
ness with  rather  too  much  kindness." 

"  The  master  of  the  last  family  I  was  with  cut  the  bread  and 
butter  for  breakfast,  and  counted  the  pieces  I  ate,  and  when 
the  housemaid  fell  ill  he  asked  me  to  bring  up  the  coals  and  to 
help  in  the  bedrooms  out  of  school  hours." 

She  crooked  her  eyebrows  into  an  arch  expression,  but  the 
dimness  of  tears  not  very  deep  down  was  in  the  light  of  her 
eyes,  and  though  she  smiled,  her  under  lip  quivered. 

I  changed  the  subject  by  talking  of  Brigstock  and  his  island 
scheme,  protesting  that  I  saw  no  harm,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
very  great  deal  of  good  in  it.  Why  shouldn't  the  overflowings 
of  British  poverty  and  wretchedness,  such  as  our  'tween  decks 
held,  find  sunny,  sweet-scented  receptacles  in  the  ocean 
acreage  of  the  Pacific  and  other  seas  ?  I  had  no  mind  myself, 
I  told  her,  to  abandon  the  civilization  I  was  used  to,  but  sup- 
pose me  a  man  soured  by  existence  at  home,  overtaken  by 
troubles  I  could  not  crowd  on  sail  enough  to  run  out  of 
sight  of,  a  wretch  sunk  in  despondency  by  the  death  of  his 
sweetheart,  a  widower  robbed  of  his  sole  surviving  darling 


A    CHAT    WITH  KATE.  159 

child,  should  not  I  welcome  such  an  asylum  as  Brigstock's 
island  might,  I  did  not  say  would,  provide  ? 

Our  talk  was  ended  by  a  bell  ringing  the  women  down  to 
supper.  By  this  time  the  first  dog-watch  was  well  advanced. 
Brigstock  had  long  ago  gone  forward  and  was  now  lurking 
in  the  galley  door,  pipe  in  mouth,  yarning  with  the  cook  and  a 
few  seamen.  They'd  often  glance  aft  as  though  they  talked 
of  me.  The  sour  sailor,  Harding,  had  charge  of  the  deck.  I 
walked  aft  to  mark  how  the  ship  headed,  and  coming  back 
accosted  the  man. 

"  How  many  of  a  crew  signed  for  this  vessel  ?  " 

"  Forward  and  aft,  eighteen,  all  told,  sir." 

"Forward  and  aft  there's  now  thirteen,"  said  I,  "and  not 
six  of  a  watch  at  that,  unless  Brigstock  goes  aloft." 

"  I've  bin  sailing  in  bigger  vessels  than  this  with  fewer  men," 
said  Harding. 

"  Yes,"  thought  I,  "and  you  can  make  things  comfortable  for 
yourselves  now  you're  on  your  own  hook,  but  if  it  were  Hal- 
crow's  time  instead  of  yours  the  twelve  of  you  would  be  lay- 
ing aft  with  cursing  faces  and  growling  throats,  swearing  the 
ship  was  undermanned  and  refusing  duty." 

"  Ever  had  charge  of  a  quarter-deck  before  this  voyage  ?  " 

"  Never  had  to  do  with  the  quarter-deck  in  all  my  life  'cept 
a-washing  of  it  down." 

"  You'll  be  missing  the  sea  when  you  settle  on  your  island, 
won't  you  ? " 

"Aye,"  he  answered  in  his  sulky  voice,"  as  the  jackass  misses 
his  shafts." 

"Brigstock's  to  be  president  of  your  republic,  isn't  he?" 
said  I,  talking  with  the  notion  of  getting  at  the  crew's  mind 
through  his  ;  indeed  it  would  have  been  ridiculous  to  assert 
my  state  of  captain  by  standing  aloof  in  the  common  way  and 
holding  my  end  of  the  ship  in  lonely  dignity — ridiculous  under 
such  conditions. 

'Aye,  Tom's  to  be  boss,"  he  replied. 

'  He's  to  marry  you  all  ? " 

'Aye." 

'  And  divorce  you  too  ?  " 

'  Yes,"  he  answered  with  a  grin,  which  crept  into  his  face 
with  the  same  sort  of  sulky  reluctance  his  voice  had. 

"What  '11  be  accepted  as  law  by  your  community  may  be 
held  as  good,  and  certainly  convenient,  law  by  others.  In  that 
case  let  Mr.  Brigstock  be  chary  and  wary  in  granting  divorces, 
otherwise  you'll  be  having  your  little  settlement  overloaded 
with  ships  full  of  quarrelsome  people  waiting  for  their  turn." 


160  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  What's  this  talk  of  divorce  !  "  he  exclaimed,  taking  me 
very  literally.  "  If  parties  aint  satisfied  to  live  together,  aint 
the  world  big  enough  for  'em, "said  he,  looking  halfway  round 
the  horizon. 

"  The  having  a  wife  is  a  bit  of  a  drawback  when  you  want 
to  marry  again  ;  so  the  lawyers  hold.  I'm  not  a  married  man 
myself,  and  talk  for  information." 

"  It  '11  be  no  drawback  along  of  us.  Brigstock's  constitoo- 
tion  '11  provided  for  that  hevil  of  civilization.  When  parties  are 
dissatisfied  they  can  be  sundered  arter  asking.  No  call  for 
the  man  to  go  to  the  devil  to  get  rid  of  the  woman,  or  vice 
versey.  Prove  that  your  pardner's  got  a  bad  temper — that 
she  neglects  your  'ouse — that  she  aint  cleanly,  and  you're  a 
free  man.  That'll  be  one  of  Brigstock's  laws.  And  do  the 
females  relish  it  ?  Ask  'em  !  It's  terrible  Henglish  law  should 
force  a  man  or  a  woman  to  sin  like  blazes  afore  it  '11  liberate  'em. 
Many's  gone  wrong,  a-cussing  of  his  or  her  hard  fate  while 
goin',  and  all  to  get  rid  of  t'other.  Our  constitootion  '11  alter 
all  that,  and  a  tidy  lot  more." 

"  Who's  your  partner  ?  " 

"  A  party  named  Sarah  Salmon." 

"  Why  has  nobody  chosen  Alice  Perry  ?  Isn't  she  the  pick 
of  the  bunch  ?  " 

"  She  up  with  her  fist  when  Johnny  Snortledge  offered. 
A  prinked  up  baggage  !  I'd  rather  lodge  with  a  shark." 

"Many  of  the  women  are  hearty  and  strong,"  said  I,  looking 
at  a  number  of  them  who  had  come  up  after  eating  their 
supper.  "They  could  pull  and  haul  with  the  best  of  you, 
stand  a  trick  after  a  few  lessons,  and  perhaps  go  aloft  if  they 
were  breeched.  There's  a  long  road  before  us  and  six  of 
a  watch.  I've  a  mind  to  train  some  of  the  women." 

He  laughed. 

"  Women  have  shipped  as  sailors  before  now,  and  clone  as 
well  as  the  smartest." 

I  walked  away,  having  said  this,  with  a  singular  idea  in  my 
head  :  Why  not  teach  the  alertest  and  strongest  of  the  women 
just  enough  of  practical  seamanship  to  enable  me  to  carry  the 
ship  to  Sydney  without  any  help  after  Brigstock's  lot  had  left 
us  ?  I  had  been  but  a  few  hours  in  this  vessel,  yet  during 
that  time  I  had  thought  closely  and  passionately,  and  chiefly 
had  I  wondered  how  it  would  fare  with  us  after  Brigstock  and 
his  party  were  gone  ashore.  Brigstock  had  talked  of  Kanakas. 
I  had  no  notion  of  trusting  myself,  helpless  and  alone  as  I  was 
as  a  man,  with  a  forecastle  full  of  South  Sea  Islanders,  let 
them  hail  from  where  they  would.  Then,  as  to  a  company  of 


A    CffAT   WITH  KATE.  161 

jiuropean  seamen,  the  Polynesian  beach  comber  was,  in  the 
bulk,  a  scoundrel,  who  had  run  from  the  whaler  or  small 
trader,  occasionally  an  escaped  convict.  In  imagination 
I  shipped  a  crew  of  the  beauties,  and  then  thought  of  my 
'tween  decks  full  of  women,  and  a  fine  ship  and  plenty  of 
cargo  to  sail  away  with  ! 

I  walked  the  deck  for  some  time  alone,  lost  in  the  thoughts 
which  had  come  crowding  on  top  of  that  offhand  remark  to 
Harding  about  training  the  women,  and  was  full  of  the  sub- 
ject when  Gouger  called  me  down  to  supper.  I  found  Brig- 
stock  in  the  cuddy  standing  at  the  door.  He  had  been  talking 
to  Miss  Cobbs  on  the  quarter-deck,  but  she  went  away  on 
seeing  me.  When  1  was  seated  he  took  his  place. 

"  If  you've  no  objection,"  said  he,  "  I'll  go  on  using  the 
second  mate's  cabin  for  sleeping  in." 

"  Objection  !     You're  mate.     You  must  sleep  aft." 

"  Perhaps  Joe  had  better  come  aft  too." 

"  Why  not,  if  he's  to  be  second  mate  ?  " 

"  Will  yer  keep  to  the  watches  as  they're  now  stood.? " 
said  he." 

"  The  men  are  fairly  divided  ?  " 

"  Well,  yes  ;  I  put  the  cook  into  the  starboard  watch.  He 
was  willing  to  take  turn  and  turn  about  with  the  rest.  But 
he's  no  hand  aloft.  The  loss  of  the  bo'sun  and  the  other  two 
weakened  us.  But  yer  '11  find  the  hands  willing — alive  an' 
hequal  to  all  calls.  Hanxiety  '11  keep  'em  smart." 

"  Let  things  rest,  then.  But  see,  now.  There  are  some 
ninety  women  in  the  'tween  decks.  Two-thirds  are  hearty  and 
active,  used  to  hard  work.  Why  not  strengthen  our  number 
by  teaching  the  best  of  them  a  few  tricks  of  seamanship,  so 
that  if  put  to  it  we  should  have  deck  hands  enough  and  to 
spare  ? " 

He  stared  in  his  slow  grave  way,  munching  a  piece  of  ship's 
biscuit  as  leisurely  as  a  cow  chews  the  cud  ;  then,  when  he 
had  grasped  my  meaning,  he  said,  "  I  don't  see  that  the 
women  '11  be  wanted." 

I  did  not  intend  he  should  know  what  was  in  my  mind. 

"  I  like  the  notion,"  said  I, "  and  will  get  some  of  the  women 
aft  and  talk  to  them.  How  long  should  an  intelligent  girl  take 
to  learn  the  names  of  ropes  and  run  to  the  pins  they're  belayed 
to  ?  Some  of  them  after  a  few  lessons  will  steer  the  ship  in 
quiet  weather  as  skillfully  as  the  best  of  you." 

A  smile  worked  over  his  face. 

"  They'll  only  get  in  the  road,"  he  said. 

1  changed  the  subject  by  relating  my  experiences  as  mate  of 


1 62  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  Hebe.  Down  to  that  time  I  had  found  no  opportunity  to 
give  him  that  startling  story.  He  listened  with  lifted  eyebrows 
and  a  long  face,  and  fixed  unwinking  gaze.  When  I  had  ended 
he  exclaimed  : 

"  Aint  it  time,  doon't  you  think,  sir,  that  civilization  in 
Hengland  was  improved  ?  A  day  may  come — not  likely,  of 
course,  that  I,  nor  some  generations  arter  me,  are  a-going  to 
see  it — when  that  constitootion  of  ours  down  in  the  Pacific  '11 
have  a  little  fleet  of  ships  of  its  own  a-trading  to  all  parts,  and 
one  of  my  articles  for  the  government  of  nautical  trade  '11  be 
this  :  that  any  man  caught  insuring  to  the  extent  of  twenty 
shulluns  above  the  vally  of  seven-eighths  of  what  he  sends 
afloat  forfeits  all,  the  money  to  go  to  a  benefit  fund  for  the 
widows  and  orphings  of  drownded  sailors." 

This  set  me  talking  about  his  island.  I  asked  if  none  of 
them  had  any  notion  of  a  spot  proper  for  a  settlement  in  those 
vast  western  seas. 

"We  could  himage  the  sort  of  thing  we'd  like  easy  enough," 
he  answered,  "but  is  it  to  be  found  ?  One  of  our  men,  Bob 
Weatherwax,  has  got  a  vollum  of  travels  in  his  chest.  I  was 
reading  in  it  some  days  ago  and  met  with  a  description  of  John 
Fernandez.  If  them  Chilians  hadn't  got  hold  of  that  island 
it  'ud  be  the  place  we'd  make  for  :  plenty  of  fine  hills  and 
beautiful  valleys,  streams  of  sweet  fresh  water,  a  wonderful 
rich  soil,  so  the  piece  says,  plenty  of  goats,  and  verdure  for 
the  raising  of  all  sorts  of  live  stock,  fishes  abundant  and  up  to 
the  knocker  as  eating,  while  the  climate's  about  the  perfectest 
either  side  the  equator." 

"  You  want  a  big  island  ?  " 

"  As  much  room  as  is  to  be  got." 

I  stepped  into  my  cabin,  overhauled  the  chart  bag,  and 
brought  out  charts  of  the  two  Pacifies.  Though  we  were  a 
mighty  long  way  to  the  nor'ard  of  the  Horn,  still  I  wished  to 
pin  the  men's  views  down  on  some,  on  any,  I  cared  not  what 
part  of  the  chart,  so  long  as  the  place  should  rest  a  settled 
point  to  head  for,  for  that  would  make  all  the  difference  between 
a  definite  voyage  and  a  loose,  tedious,  perhaps  aimless  cruise. 
I  laid  the  charts  upon  the  table,  and  our  noses  came  together 
over  them.  I  showed  him  the  line  of  the  equator,  and 
advised  him  to  think  of  nothing  within  ten  degrees  north  or 
south  of  it. 

"  My  belief  is,"  said  I,  "  that  whenever  you  come  across  any- 
thing particularly  alluring  you'll  find  it  full  of  savages." 

"  That  warn't  the  experience  of  Mr.  Fletcher  Christian  and 
his  people,"  said  he.  "  I've  bin  shipmate  along  with  men  who've 


THE  EMIGRANTS'   DINNER.  163 

spent  three  and  four  years  at  a  stretch  whaling  in  the  Pacific, 
and  they'd  talk  of  passing  island  after  island  without  sighting 
a  living  soul." 

"  Groups  of  coral  stuff  of  no  more  good  than  the  Flat 
Holm." 

"  No,  sir,  islands  with  mountains  in  the  middle,  and  covered 
with  trees,  with  large  lagoons  like  harbors  for  bringing  up  in — 
so  their  yarns  went." 

"  Can't  you  give  a  name  to  one  of  them  ? "  said  I,  poring  upon 
the  chart.  "  Here  are  the  Marquesas — full  up.  Here's  Tonga 
and  Fiji  and  New  Caledonia." 

"  Try  north,"  he  interrupted. 

"  North  yields  poor  choice,"  said  I.  "  Look  at  the  islands, 
few  as  currants  in  a  sailor's  dumpling.  There's  nothing  for 
you  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  nothing  in  the  Ladrones  and 
Carolines." 

"  Well,  it'll  have  to  be  a  hunt  !  "  he  exclaimed,  stiffening  his 
spine  and  rubbing  the  small  of  his  back.  "  But  what  we  want's 
there" 

I  replaced  the  charts  and  went  on  deck. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  EMIGRANTS'  DINNER. 

THERE  was  a  wild  hot  flush  in  the  west,  and  sea  and  sky 
looked  to  pour  into  it,  the  clouds  in  flying  feathers  of  scarlet, 
and  the  sea  ridging  black  as  ink,  though  eastward  it  was  a 
hard  dark  green.  To  windward,  far  off  on  the  weather  bow, 
a  sail  was  dimly  glowing  ;  I  fetched  the  glass  from  the  cap- 
tain's cabin  and  found  it,  as  it  looked,  a  noble  magnifier ;  it 
determined  the  orange  dash  of  light  far  away  into  the  propor- 
tions of  a  brig,  heading  as  we  went.  I  wondered  if  she  were 
the  Hebe,  and  worked  away  with  the  telescope  for  some  time 
in  a  fit  of  excitement,  but  before  daylight  went  I  got  sight  of 
a  stump  fore  topgallant  mast,  and  that  settled  the  matter. 

I  looked  over  the  rail  for  Kate,  but  did  not  see  her.  A  few 
women  walked  about  the  decks  ;  a  couple  of  seamen,  each 
with  a  female  holding  his  arm,  paced  very  gravely  in  the  waist  ; 
the  forecastle  was  deserted,  and  the  red,  wet  gleam  which 
slipped  off  the  planks  as  the  vessel  dipped  with  an  occasional 
flash  of  brine  over  the  headrail  explained  why. 

My  head  was  full  of  the  project  of  training  a  number  of  the 
women  to  steer  and  to  handle  the  ropes.  Would  they  come 


164  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

into  my  scheme  ?  Very  likely  if  I  explained  my  reasons.  But 
then  I  did  not  intend  that  the  crew  should  understand  my 
motives  ;  I  had  a  feeling  that  if  the  men  began  to  realize  my 
resolution  to  carry  the  ship  to  port  they'd  turn  the  matter, 
reason  that  since  /  could  see  my  way  to  a  profitable  job  they 
might  as  well  stop  and  share  in  what  was  to  come.  I  knew 
the  seaman's  character  to  be  as  unstable  as  the  water  he  sails 
on.  Before  we  were  up  with  the  Horn  ten  of  the  twelve  might 
be  swearing  that  they  wasn't  going  to  settle  no  measly  island  ; 
they'd  stick  to  the  ship,  they  would,  claim  their  wages,  and 
pocket  what  might  follow.  I  determined  to  talk  with  Kate  on 
the  subject  next  day.  It  -is  a  pity,  I  thought,  as  I  looked  at 
the  black  yawn  of  main  hatch,  a  mere  blotch  in  the  evening 
gloom  scarce  touched  by  the  feeble  lights  swinging  under 
deck,  that  she  should  allow  her  notion  of  propriety  to  tyran- 
nize to  the  degree  of  keeping  her  down  there.  Had  she  shown 
any  willingness  to  live  aft  I'd  have  brought  her  into  the  cabin, 
Brigstock  or  no  Brigstock,  and  taken  my  chance  of  the  issue 
of  an  argument  with  the  crew.  Yet  she  was  right,  though  it 
vexed  me  to  think  of  her  in  her  gloomy  quarters,  resting  on  a 
shelf  and  eating  the  emigrants'  fare  when  there  were  empty 
cabins  aft,  and  a  table  fit  for  a  lady  to  sit  at. 

I  kept  the  deck  till  eleven  that  night,  watching  the  ship  ;  I 
forget  which  of  the  two  men  had  charge.  The  trade  wind  blew 
hard,  with  a  long  high  sea.  When  I  went  below  to  lie  down  I 
was  prepared  for  a  call  to  result  in  reefed  canvas.  But  on  going 
on  deck  again  at  half-past  three  I  found  the  breeze  had 
slackened  ;  they  had  set  the  main  royal  and  boarded  the 
main  tack,  and  still  the  ship  was  sweeping  along  nobly,  sheet- 
ing out  the  white  water  into  a  radiance  as  of  moonlight. 

Next  morning  was  splendid  blowing  weather,  the  seas  run- 
ning in  hills  of  blue,  a  flying  sky  of  steam-white  trade  cloud, 
and  four  ships  in  sight  at  eight  o'clock,  though  all  of  them 
hull  down. 

Some  time  after  breakfast  I  left  my  berth  to  look  for  Kate. 
A  girl  was  standing  in  the  cabin  door  singing.  She  held  out 
her  dress  with  both  hands  as  she  sang,  keeping  time  in  a 
frolicsome,  see-saw,  sideways  jump  ;  a  troop  of  women  stood 
viewing  her,  and  they  laughed  immoderately  at  her  antics.  I 
caught  but  one  verse  of  her  song,  which  she  howled  out  in  the 
peculiar  raw  voice  of  the  courts  and  lanes  : 

"She shall  'ave  all  that's  fine  and  fair, 
And  the  best  of  silk  and  satin  shall  wear, 
And  ride  in  a  coach  to  take  the  hair, 
And  'ave  a  'ouse  in  St.  James'  Square." 


THE  EMIGRANTS'    DINNER.  165 

Looking  over  her  shoulder,  with  her  face  flushed  with  caper- 
cutting,  she  spied  me,  let  fall  her  gown,  and  bolted. 

I  saw  Miss  Cobbs  standing  beside  the  main  hatch,  and  asked 
if  Miss  Darnley  was  below.  She  answered  yes,  and  called 
down.  In  a  few  minutes  Kate  arrived.  She  looked  uncom- 
monly well,  fresh  as  though  from  a  bath.  Her  cheeks  wore  a 
rich  color,  her  eyes  shone  with  uncommon  vivacity  and  bright- 
ness ;  her  dress  was  of  some  plain  black  stuff,  not  very  new. 
She  wore  her  hat  with  a  little  rakish  set  of  it  upon  her  fine 
black  hair,  and  this  took  my  eye  mightily. 

I  shook  her  hand  and  asked  her  to  step  on  to  the  poop. 
She  seemed  shy,  and  peeped  about  her,  and  said,  "  Can't  we 
converse  here  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  answered.  "  Come,  come  !  You're  not  a  girl  to 
run  delicacy  into  prudery  ?  You  won't  live  aft,  and  you  won't 
sit  with  me  at  the  cabin  table,  and  you  may  be  right,  though  1 
can't  respect  the  sentiment  that  deprives  me  of  your  company. 
But  the  fastidiousness  that  stops  you  from  walking  with  me  on 
the  poop  must  be  humbug;  so  come  along,  Kate." 

She  followed  me. 

"  You  don't  care  much,  do  you,  for  the  opinions  of  such  a 
cargo  as  this  ship  carries  ? "  said  I,  passing  my  hand  through 
her  arm  to  steady  her  on  the  lifting  and  falling  slant  of 
deck. 

She  turned  the  question  by  asking  me  to  give  her  some 
news. 

"  There  is  none,"  said  I. 

"  The  sailors'  scheme  is  so  ridiculous  and  extraordinary," 
she  exclaimed,  "  that  I  can't  believe  they'll  persevere.  They'll 
hit  on  some  new  project,  and  that's  the  news  I'm  waiting  for." 

"  I  don't  know  how  it  may  be  with  the  majority,"  I  answered, 
"  but  Brigstock  and  that  sour  devil  to  leeward  yonder  are 
most  infernally  in  earnest." 

As  I  said  this — we  were  approaching  the  wheel — I  caught  a 
look  from  the  helmsman  ;  he  was  Isaac  Coffin  of  the  mustache 
and  humorous  vulgar  eyes.  I  held  my  face  with  difficulty,  for 
his  mind  lay  as  plain  in  his  crumpled  visage  as  though  he 
spoke. 

"  The  fellows  '11  find  encouragement  in  you  and  me,  Kate," 
said  I,  wheeling  round  with  her.  "That  man  thinks  we're 
'  pardners'  discussing  the  island  scheme." 

"  I  overheard  one  of  the  women  tell  some  others  that  we'd 
agreed  to  join  the  Brigstock  set  and  settle  down,"  said  she. 

"  What  did  you  say  ?  " 

"  I  let  her  talk." 


1 66  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Isn't  it  known  we  were  acquainted  before  we  met  here  ?  " 
said  I. 

"  The  'tween  decks  are  like  a  little  town,"  she  answered  : 
"  one  street  never  hears  of  what's  happening  in  another. 
There  are  sets  and  cliques.  The  shop  girls  move  in  a  higher 
sphere  than  the  cooks,  and  the  cooks  condescend  to  the  gen- 
eral servants  and  women  whose  walks  are  a  little  vague,  such 
as  Emma  Marks." 

"  Kate,"  said  I,  "  I  have  a  scheme,  but  the  motive  must  be 
our  secret.  Suppose  the  sailors  stick  to  their  resolution  ; 
where  shall  I  find  men  to  work  the  ship  to  Sydney  when  the 
crew  have  left  us  ?  But  granted  that  I  could  find  men,  could 
I  trust  the  rowdies  we're  likely  to  ship,  beach  combers  who 
carry  their  consciences  strapped  in  sheaths  upon  their  hips  ? 
They'd  cut  my  throat  and  be  off  with  the  ship,  choose  wives 
as  the  Jacks  of  this  vessel  have,  though  not  so  tenderly,  haunt 
an  island  for  a  few  months,  and  then  vanish." 

"  Couldn't  you  get  a  few  respectable  English  sailors  from 
some  passing  ship  to  help  us  to  Sydney  ?  " 

"  If  a  ship  passed  with  respectable  English  sailors  on  board 
and  the  captain  was  willing — yes.  But  I've  got  to  provide 
for  conditions  which  are  next  door  to  certainties.  I'm  off  an 
island  ;  the  crew  are  gone  with  their  women  ;  I'm  the  only 
man  in  the  vessel ;  what's  to  be  done  ?  " 

She  was  silent. 

"  I'll  tell  you  :  I'm  for  finding  out  if  the  pick  of  the  women 
— in  strength  and  coarse  health,  I  mean — will  allow  themselves 
to  be  trained  to  pull  and  let  go  and  steer." 

She  opened  her  eyes  at  me. 

"  I'm  in  earnest.  There  are  women  in  the  'tween  decks  as 
strong  as  strong  men.  They  couldn't,  I  admit,  go  aloft  in 
petticoats,  but  I  hope  to  see  my  way  even  out  of  that  difficulty 
by  and  by." 

Still  she  opened  her  eyes  at  me. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  my  idea  ?  " 

"  It  is  odd — it  is — it  is — why,  if  it  can  be  done  it  will  be  a 
good  idea.  Certainly  many  of  the  women  are  strong,  as  you 
say,  stronger  than  many  men." 

Some  conceit  tickled  her,  and  she  laughed  loudly. 

"  Will  you  set  an  example  ?  " 

"  I'll  do  anything  my  strength  is  equal  to,  but  I  can't 
climb  those  heights,"  she  exclaimed,  smiling,  and  upturning 
her  dark  eyes  at  the  swollen  and  moving  fabric  of  spar  and 
canvas. 

"  I'll  teach  you  to  steer  a  ship  in  half  a  dozen  lessons,  and 


THE  EMIGRANTS'  DINNER.  167 

in  a  few  days  you'll  know  exactly  what  ropes  to  let  go  when 
the  order's  given.  What  do  they  call  that  tackle  ?  "  said  I, 
pointing  to  the  main-brace. 

She  did  not  know. 

"  And  that — and  that — and  that  ? " 

She  could  not  name  a  rope.  But  she  knew  the  names  of 
most  of  the  sails,  and  the  difference  betwixt  the  mainmast  and 
the  bowsprit. 

"  Still,"  said  I,  "  you'll  let  me  use  you  as  an  example  for  the 
others.  You'll  let  me  hang  the  bell  upon  you." 

"  But  how  much  easier  to  pick  up  a  crew  as  we  go  along  ! " 

•'  I'll  not  do  it,"  I  replied  with  some  warmth.  "  Give  me  a 
couple  or  three  mates  to  back  me,  a  bo'sun,  and  a  carpenter 
I  can  put  trust  in — then  you  shall  advise  me.  Can't  you  under- 
stand the  perils  I'd  avoid  by  training  a  batch  of  women  to  do 
men's  work  ? " 

"  Have  you  spoken  to  Miss  Cobbs  ?  " 

"  No,  but  your  question  gives  me  an  idea." 

I  saw  the  matron,  as  they  called  her,  standing  in  the  gang- 
way talking  with  Brigstock,  whom  a  little  while  earlier  I  had 
heard  shouting  to  some  men  ;  indeed  he  could  not  have 
looked  after  the  necessary  work  of  the  ship  more  closely  had 
he  been  a  signed  chief  mate  with  the  whole  round  voyage  be- 
fore him.  I  stood  with  Kate  watching  them  ;  presently  they 
observed  me,  and  Miss  Cobbs,  perceiving  by  my  manner  that 
I  wished  to  speak  to  her,  came  aft.  I  called  her  on  to  the 
poop,  and,  after  saluting  her  very  civilly,  said  I'd  be  glad  to 
have  a  few  words  with  her.  She  bobbed  me  one  of  her  queer 
courtesies,  and  answered  that  her  time  for  the  next  hour  was 
quite  at  my  service. 

I  determined  to  approach  the  point  gradually,  and  began 
by  talking  about  Kate  ;  I  told  her  who  she  was,  and  expressed 
regret  that  she  could  not  see  her  way  to  live  aft. 

"  Miss  Darnley's  right,"  exclaimed  Miss  Cobbs,  looking  at 
Kate.  "  It  would  not  do,  I  assure  you.  Mr.  Brigstock  was 
for  bringing  me  into  the  cabin.  I  said  certainly  not.  If  /  did 
not  set  an  example  of  strict  propriety  to  the  females,  what 
might  not  happen  ?  Mr.  Brigstock's  wonderful  scheme 
mustn't  fail  for  the  want  of  discipline  and  decorum  here." 

"  Mr.  Brigstock,"  said  I,  "  is  a  very  remarkable  man." 

"  Indeed  he  is,  then,  sir,"  she  answered  with  one  of  her  wire- 
drawn smirks.  "  He's  one  of  them  men  who  are  born  far 
below  their  rightful  sphere.  But  Lor' !  it's  but  too  true  that  the 
soul's  often  packed  in  the  wrong  case.  I  know  a  Jew  with  the 
sperrit  of  a  Christian ;  he  hates  his  face  and  believes  in  Christ. 


1 68  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

He  do  indeed.  What  right  has  his  body  to  his  soul?  Mr. 
Brigstock  is  born  with  the  sperrit  of  a  ruler ;  it's  with  him  as 
though  somebody  had  taken  the  works  out  of  a  gold  watch 
case  and  put  'em  into  a  silver  one." 

"  Have  you  any  connections,  Miss  Cobbs  ?  " 

"Two  married  sisters  at  'ome,  sir." 

"  Does  it  please  you  to  think  of  separating  yourself  from  the 
world  by  settling  in  a  little  island  in  the  Pacific  ?  " 

"  It  do  indeed.  And  you  can't  call  it  separating.  We  shall 
be  a  people.  I  dare  say  if  there  was  anything  very  particular 
to  look  forward  to  at  home  I  should  think  twice.  But  I  don't 
love  the  idea  of  plowing  the  seas  in  this  way  for  a  living,  and 
really  after  I  step  ashore  at  Blackwall  I  am  no  better  off  than 
any  of  those  young  ladies  there,"  said  she,  with  a  sweep  of  her 
hand  in  the  direction  of  the  main  deck. 

"  What  will  you  do  for  clothes  ? "  said  Kate. 

"How  do  they  manage  at  Pitcairn  ? "  she  answered.  "  We 
provide  ourselves,  as  is  understood,  with  a  little  assortment 
from  the  cargo  of  this  ship.  And  supposing  it  should  come  to 
our  depending  on  our  own  skill  and  taste  !  It's  so  at  'ome, 
isn't  it  ?  You  want  a  hat ;  well,  you  buy  the  plain  straw,  let's 
say,  then  feathers  and  ribbons  for  trimming.  Now  there's  to 
be  no  shops  at  present  in  our  settlement,  but  it  '11  be  strange  if 
there's  not  plenty  of  material  out  of  which  we  can  make  all 
sorts  of  headdresses  for  ourselves,  with  plenty  of  beautiful 
wild  flowers  and  the  gorgeous  wings  of  birds  for  trimming." 

She  dropped  a  courtesy  of  self-approval,  with  a  countenance 
of  exquisite  complacency,  as  she  thus  spoke. 

I  saw  Kate  striving  hard  to  smother  a  laugh.  Indeed  Miss 
Cobbs'  talk  couldn't  fail  to  submit  certain  queer  images  of  her- 
self to  us.  I  figured  her  raven-hued  sausage  curls  and  thin 
nose  under  a  grass  hat  of  her  own  weaving  piled  high  with 
Pacific  vegetation  and  plumage  ;  and  then  another  absurd 
fancy  occurred  to  me,  and  I  looked  away  till  I  had  shaken  off 
a  sudden  fit  of  silent  laughter. 

I  now  asked  her  to  pace  the  deck,  and  we  started,  Kate  on 
one  side  and  she  on  the  other.  Brigstock,  who  was  directing 
some  work  forward,  frequently  turned  with  grave,  slow  ges- 
tures to  survey  us.  The  girl  Alice  Perry  had  climbed  on  top 
of  the  bulwark  rail,  with  her  back  against  the  main  shrouds, 
where  she  sat  safe  ;  there  she  hung,  swinging  her  legs,  and 
flashing  looks  at  us  under  her  wild,  shaggy  brow  as  we'd 
approach  the  forward  end  of  the  poop.  A  number  of  girls 
were  singing  in  concert  near  the  main  hatch,  and  I  thought  I 
heard  the  sound  of  a  fiddle  in  the  'tween  decks.  On  either  side 


THE   EMGRAXTS'    DIXNER.  169 

the  galley  were  lines  of  bedding  spread  for  airing.  A  farm- 
yard noise  came  from  the  coop  and  longboat,  and  what  with 
the  moving  figures  of  the  girls,  the  dance  and  flutter  of  their 
colored  raiment,  the  blown  smoke  from  the  galley  chimney, 
the  picture  of  that  ship's  deck  was  as  lively  a  sea  piece  as  I 
had  ever  seen,  full  of  the  hurry  of  the  strong  wind,  of  darting 
colors,  of  swinging  shadows,  with  a  ceaseless  roar  of  rushing 
foam  on  either  hand,  and  a  blue  horizon,  sharp  as  the  edge  of 
a  lens,  broken  in  three  places  by  a  sail,  and  dark  as  violet 
against  the  morning  azure  past  it. 

As  we  walked  I  told  Miss  Cobbs  carelessly  of  my  scheme  of 
making  the  women  useful  and  amusing  them  too. 

"Aren't  there  men  enough  to  do  the  ship's  work  ?"  said  she, 
and  I  was  struck  by  a  quick  suspicious  lift  of  her  eyes. 

"  That's  my  business,"  I  answered  coolly.  I  added  after  a 
pause,  "  Twelve  men  are  not  a  complement  for  a  vessel  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester 's  tonnage,  freighted  as  she  is." 

"  No  doubt  you're  right,  sir.  But  few  as  the  men  are  they're 
good  'ands." 

"  I've  called  you  up  here  to  talk  the  thing  over.  Go  pres- 
ently among  the  women  and  sound  them,  and  let  me  hear  what 
they  think." 

"But  they  did  not  embark  in  this  ship  to  do  her  work,'!  said 
Miss  Cobbs  with  some  amazement. 

"  You  don't  suppose  I'd  force  ship's  work  upon  them. 
There's  a  long  voyage  before  us.  We're  undermanned.  I 
choose  to  think  so,  and  know  it !  We  need  a  supplemental 
crew.  The  girls  have  nothing  to  do  with  themselves  all  day 
long.  Are  they  willing  to  take  lessons  in  steering  and  learn 
the  names  of  the  ropes,  sails,  and  yards  of  the  ship  ?  " 

She  looked  as  if  she  would  like  to  tell  me  my  scheme  was 
ridiculous,  and  exclaimed,  "It's  a  very  hentertaining  idea, sir. 
Some  of  the  women,  I'm  sure,  would  gladly  learn  how  to  steer, 
and  it  'ud  amuse  a  number  of  them  to  get  the  names  of  the 
ropes  by  "eart.  But  I'm  afraid  you'd  find  'em  of  no  real  use 
if  it  should  come  to  your  needing  their  services.  WThat  do 
you  say,  Miss  Darnley?" 

"  There  are  ninety  women  ;  I  dare  say  Mr.  Morgan  would 
be  able  to  educate  a  company  of  about  twenty  into  being  able 
to  help  on  deck.  But  he'll  find  none  with  pluck  enough  to 
climb,"  said  Kate,  again  looking  aloft. 

Mis?;  Cobbs  giggled.  "Who's  to  teach  the  lasses,  sir?" 
she  asked. 

"  I'll  arrange  for  that  and  take  classes  myself." 

"  Will  you  learn  ?"  said  the  matron,  smirking  at  Kate. 


170  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  It  will  be  a  proud  moment  for  me  when  I  can  hold  that 
wheel  and  control  this  beautiful  ship  by  it,"  answered  Kate, 
with  such  fine  affectation  of  enthusiasm  that  her  color  seemed 
to  mount  and  her  eyes  to  kindle  with  the  mere  effort  of 
acting. 

After  we  had  talked  a  little  longer  on  this  matter  Miss 
Cobbs  left  me,  taking  my  request  that  she  should  sound  the 
women  as  a  command  from  the  master  of  the  ship.  Kate 
walked  by  my  side  for  another  half  hour.  All  our  talk  was 
about  her  future.  Where  would  she  stay  on  her  arrival  at 
Sydney  ?  What  would  she  do  if  she  did  not  quickly  get  a 
situation  as  governess  ?  I'd  look  sideways  and  earnestly  at 
her  while  we  conversed.  At  Blathford  I  had  thought  her 
pretty  ;  I  seemed  now  to  find  her  as  sweet  and  handsome 
again  as  she  was  then.  Was  I  going  to  loose  my  heart  and 
complicate  my  adventures  by  a  love  passage  ?  She'd  some- 
times grow  grave  while  talking  about  what  she  was  to  do  in 
Australia  should  the  Earl  of  Leicester  ever  reach  Sydney,  but 
there  was  no  lack  of  fire  and  spirit  in  her  words  and  manner. 
The  heart  that  had  brought  her  into  this  ship  beat  strong  ; 
there  was  courage  of  a  steady,  quiet,  heroic  sort  in  every  look 
and  saying  and  smile  of  hers. 

When  we  parted  I  went  below  and  spent  an  hour  in  going 
carefully  through  Captain  Halcrow's  effects,  and  stowing  them 
away  for  locking  or  sealing  up.  It  was  a  duty  I  owed  a 
brother  seaman,  and  I  resolved  that  whatever  I  borrowed  or 
took  I'd  make  a  note  of,  that  he  might  suffer  no  loss  should  it 
be  in  my  power  to  pay  him. 

While  I  was  at  this  work  I  thought  of  the  Hebe,  and  won- 
dered if  I  should  ever  recover  my  own  poor  outfit  and  little 
stock  of  money.  I  found  twenty  sovereigns  in  a  small  box  in 
a  locker.  I  also  met  with  a  dozen  boxes  of  very  good  cigars. 
When  I  was  tired  with  this  work  I  wrote  in  the  log  book  and 
then  made  certain  calculations,  next  overhung  the  South 
Pacific  chart,  and  searched  the  collection  of  books  for  informa- 
tion about  the  navigation  of  those  seas,  but  in  vain.  This 
brought  the  hour  to  about  half-past  eleven,  and  I  went  on 
deck  with  one  of  Halcrow's  sextants. 

Brigstock  was  on  the  poop  to  windward  forward  talking 
with  Harding.  I  looked  about  me  for  a  minute  or  two,  and 
then  sung  out,  "  Mr.  Harding,  set  the  fore  topmast  stunsail." 

The  man  promptly  ordered  the  boom  to  be  rigged  out. 

"  We  must  sweat  it  out  of  this  wind  while  we  have  it,"  said 
I?  going  up  to  Brigstock.  "  Better  two  points  off  than  two  of 
leeway.  Make  a  fair  wind  of  whatever  comes  along,"  said  I. 


THE  EMIGRANTS'   DINNER.  171 

I  watched  the  men  set  the  sail,  and  observed  they  were  lively 
and  thorough. 

"  She  feels  it,  sir,"  said  Brigstock,  coming  up  from  the  lee 
rail  with  a  face  of  grave  satisfaction. 

"  At  what  hour  do  the  women  dine  ?  " 

"  At  wan  bell." 

"  I  mean  to  see  them  eat.     You'll  accompany  me  ?  " 

"  Aye,  aye,  sir." 

I  took  up  a  position  to  command  the  sun,  Brigstock  attend- 
ing me.  He  waited  till  I  made  eight  bells,  regarding  me  with 
curiosity  and-  respect,  and  then  when  the  chimes  on  the  main 
deck  had  ceased  he  exclaimed,  "  So  you're  in  earnest,  sir,  in 
your  scheme  of  training  the  women  ?  Them  as  '11  be  willing, 
I  mean." 

"  Yes,"  I  answered  impatiently. 

"  You'll  excuse  me,"  said  he  with  his  slow  delivery, 
"  a-questioning  of  you  as  captain  of  this  ship,  but  what  good 
might  you  think  the  females  are  going  to  be  to  us  ?  " 

"  Has  Miss  Cobbs  been  talking  to  you  ?  " 

"  She  has,  sir." 

"  She  can  give  you  my  reason." 

"  There  are  twelve  good  men  in  this  ship,  capt'n,  sailors  all, 
who  don't  want  any  help  from  women,  sir." 

"  I  intend  to  supplement  the  ship's  company  by  a  working 
body  of  strong  girls — those  who,  as  you  say,  may  be  willing. 
Now,  Mr.  Brigstock,  I'm  either  to  be  captain  or  not.  Say  the 
word,"  said  I,  looking  at  him  steadily. 

"  Oh  !  "  he  exclaimed,  with  an  odd  bow  of  civil  protest. 
"  This  is  no  scheme  to  alter  our  views  of  yer,  sir." 

"  I  shall  be  ready  to  visit  the  'tween  decks  at  half-past 
twelve,"  said  I. 

At  that  hour  he  was  waiting  for  me  on  the  quarter-deck. 
All  the  women  were  below  ;  the  last  of  the  girls  of  the  mess 
had  disappeared  down  the  hatchway  with  the  steaming  kids 
and  cans  ;  the  seamen  were  likewise  at  dinner,  and  the  ship 
rushed  bowing  onward  under  her  wide,  overhanging  wing  of 
studding  sail,  watched  by  Harding,  who  paced  a  few  planks' 
width  of  the  weather  poop  deck. 

I  descended  the  hatch  ladder,  followed  by  Brigstock,  and 
stood  a  minute  or  two  viewing  a  singular  scene.  The  women 
were  seated  in  a  row  on  either  side  the  table,  at  the  after 
extremity  of  which  sat  Miss  Cobbs.  The  atmosphere  was 
clouded  with  the  steam  of  pease  soup,  boiled  pork,  and  plum 
duff.  The  heel  of  the  windsail  poured  in  a  good  supply  of 
fresh  air,  but  there  would  have  been  no  virtue  in  a  living  gale 


1/2  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

to  sober  or  extinguish  the  smell  of  the  soup  and  the  pork. 
The  kids  and  dishes  steamed  down  the  whole  length  of  the 
table,  and  in  addition  to  their  incense  I  tasted  the  disgusting 
flavor  of  soup  and  bouilli  and  preserved  "  spuds."  Lanterns 
swung  in  the  fore  part,  and  the  play  of  lights  and  shadows 
there,  the  gradual  dimming  down  of  the  lines  of  faces  into 
mere  phantasms,  the  various  change  of  posture  in  the  eating 
and  drinking  figures,  produced  an  effect  many  touches  above 
my  genius  to  describe. 

Every  tongue  was  going,  knives  and  forks  rattled  on  the 
tin  plates  like  a  chain  cable  in  a  hawse  pipe.  A  few  of  the 
women  moved  up  and  down  small  divisions  of  the  sitters,  as 
though  waiting  upon  them.  I  kept  for  a  bit  under  the  hatch  the 
better  to  hear  Brigstock's  replies  to  my  questions,  and  I  now 
learned  that  he  had  taken  the  second  mate's  place  in  serving 
out  the  stores,  since  the  ship  had  been  left  without  anyone  to 
command  her.  He  gave  me  certain  facts  which  I'll  not 
trouble  you  with,  though  I  was  here  to  satisfy  myself  upon 
them. 

Some  time  passed  before  any  notice  was  taken  of  us.  When 
we  were  perceived  Miss  Cobbs  stood  up,  and  the  jangle  of 
tongues  at  our  end  softened,  though  a  sharp  talk,  with  frequent 
shrill  laughter,  and  piercing  cries  to  hand  this  along  and  to 
pass  that  across,  was  kept  up  at  the  forward  part.  I  told  Miss 
Cobbs  to  keep  her  seat,  and  complimented  her  upon  what 
I  chose  to  call  her  methods.  Everything  looked  clean.  The 
dishes  were  so  disposed  as  to  illustrate  a  well-digested  system. 
In  short  that  long  dinner  table  was  as  comfortable  to  the  sight 
as  the  judgment  could  possibly  contrive  in  dealing  with  such 
coarse  utensils  and  unsavory  sea  fare  as  loaded  it. 

I  walked  leisurely  down  the  starboard  row  of  diners,  Brig- 
stock  in  my  wake.  I  had  several  motives  in  paying  this  visit, 
but  chiefly  I  wished  the  women  and  the  sailors  to  understand 
that  I  considered  myself  as  fully  the  master  of  the  vessel  as 
ever  Halcrow  had  been,  with  every  right  of  inquisition,  and 
strong  with  resolution  that  the  government  of  the  ship  should 
be  justly  and  carefully  administered.  The  females  fell  some- 
what silent  as  I  passed.  I  looked  for  Kate,  and  saw  her  sitting 
on  the  port  side. 

When  I  got  to  the  bottom  of  the  table  I  came  to  a  stand, 
and  glancing  along  the  double  row  of  faces,  I  exclaimed, 
"  Ladies,  I'm  glad  to  see  you're  well  looked  after.  This 
punctuality  of  meals,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  food's 
served,  do  great  credit  to  Miss  Cobbs  and  to  Mr.  Brigstock." 

I  had  expected  some  applause  would  follow  this.      Instead 


THE  EMIGRANTS'   DINNER.  173 

several  women  began  to  hiss,  and  a  rasping  voice  yelled  out, 
"  Don't  mention  Brigstock.  Why  aren't  we  to  be  sailed 
straight  to  Australia  ? " 

"  Have  you  come  down  here  to  talk  about  making  sailors  of 
us,  captain  ?"  called  out  Alice  Perry,  who  was  seated  midway 
on  the  starboard  side. 

"  Oi'll  be  a  tarpaulin  soon  as  ever  yer  loike,"  cried  a  girl. 
"  Oi'm  a  Deal  man's  daughter.  Oi've  been  off  along  with 
farder  scores  of  times.  His  lugger  was  the  Water  Witch,  and 
she  was  run  down  and  all  hands  drownded  off  Folkestone 
three  years  ago  come  next  month,  and  that's  why  Oi'm  here." 

"  I'll  be  talking  to  as  many  of  you  as  '11  volunteer  by  and 
by,"  said  I.  "Go  on  with  your  dinner,  I  beg.  I'm  not  here 
to  interrupt  you." 

"Taste  this,"  exclaimed  a  young  woman  close  beside  me, 
holding  up  a  lump  of  pale  fat  pork  on  a  two-pronged  fork. 

"  Ask  the  capt'n  to  try  the  pease  soup  fust,"  cried  another 
woman. 

"  Don't  let  him  be  persuaded  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  pudden,"  said  a  third  'in  a  mincing  tone,  and  with  the 
provincial  accent  (this  woman's  face  was  like  a  piece  of  sum- 
mer English  country  with  her  cherry  lips  and  apple  cheeks 
and  blackberry  eyes  and  rich  gloss  of  chestnut  on  her  hair), 
"or  the  ship  '11  again  be  without  a  navigator." 

"Is  it  the  pork  or  the  cooking  that's  wrong?"  said  I  to  the 
first  speaker. 

"  The  pork,"  she  answered.  "  It  was  never  part  of  the 
usual  pig.  Hi've  boiled  plenty  of  pork  in  my  time  but  never 
such  flesh  as  this." 

"  It's  a  piece  of  old  sailor,  Miss  Flanders  !  "  exclaimed  the 
woman  next  her.  At  this  there  was  a  great  laugh,  Brigstock 
joining  in  with  a  solemn,  hollow  ha,  ha  ! 

"  I  can  deal  with  the  cook,  but  not  with  the  meat,"  said  I. 
"  No  good  meat  ever  dreams  of  going  to  sea.  What's  shipped 
is  meant  to  keep  sailors'  teeth  white  and  sharp,  and  to  give 
them  a  relish  for  beefsteak  when  they  get  ashore." 

On  my  way  to  the  hatch  ladder  I  stopped  to  speak  to  Kate. 
While  I  stooped,  intending  a  low  voice,  Alice  Perry,  who  sat 
nearly  opposite,  cried  out :  "  Capt'n,  sit  down  beside  Miss 
Darnley  and  take  your  dinner  along  with  us.  There  looks  to 
be  plenty,  but  you'll  find  it  isn't  all  jam  for  us  girls." 

I  smiled  at  the  coarsely  handsome  creature,  with  her  strong 
white  teeth,  and  large  black  saucy  eyes,  and  having  addressed 
Kate,  passed  on,  taking  no  notice  of  the  cries  some  of  the 
females  followed  me  with,  to  stop  and  comfort  them  with 


174  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

talking  about  the  voyage  and  how  long  it  was  to  last — to  stop 
and  explain  what  sort  of  work  would  be  expected  of  them  if 
they  were  willing  to  learn  the  names  of  ropes  and  how  to 
steer. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

A    FORECASTLE    DANCE. 

THE  trade  wind,  without  failing  us,  scanted  considerably 
that  afternoon.  The  sea  ran  sloppily,  as  though  thick  with 
grease,  the  weather  darkened  with  wet,  and  for  the  next  two 
days  the  time  was  too  uncomfortable  to  find  me  a  chance  of 
talking  to  the  women.  It  then  cleared  one  morning  watch  in  a 
sweep  of  the  heavens  by  a  sudden  freshening  of  the  trade 
gale  that  brightened  the  sky  out  into  a  clear  face  of  trembling 
stars  ;  at  seven  o'clock  the  ship,  heeled  to  the  line  of  her  chan- 
nels, was  flashing  her  wet  copper  to  the  windward  sun  through 
an  ocean  of  dark  blue  foaming  billows,  the  trade  cloud  sailing 
over  the  reeling  trucks,  the  flying  fish  sparkling  from  the  shear- 
ing fore  foot,  and  a  confused  music,  as  of  a  dozen  orchestras 
blowing  and  fiddling  in  opposition,  trembling  out  of  the 
shadowy  concavities  of  canvas,  and  twanging  off  the  taut 
and  vibratory  standing  rigging  into  the  steady  roar  of  the 
breeze. 

I  breakfasted  and  went  on  deck.  It  was  about  nine  o'clock. 
I  saw  Miss  Cobbs  conversing  with  Brigstock  at  the  foot  of  the 
poop  ladder,  and  asked  her  to  request  the  emigrants  to  assem- 
ble on  the  quarter-deck,  as  I  desired  to  explain  my  scheme  of 
picking  a  supplemental  crew  from  among  them.  There  might 
then  have  been  from  twenty  to  thirty  females  on  deck. 

I  took  a  few  turns  while  Miss  Cobbs  went  about  among  the 
women  ;  presently  a  great  number,  indeed  all,  I  think,  had 
assembled.  The  sailors  of  the  watch  gave  notice  to  their 
mates  below  of  what  was  going  forward,  and  all  hands  came 
into  the  waist,  the  watch  knocking  off  their  work  to  listen.  I 
did  not  think  proper  to  notice  the  impudence  of  the  men  in 
coolly  dropping  their  jobs.  I  might  talk  big,  but  I  understood 
(and  so  did  they)  that  discipline  with  us  must  be  regulated  by 
the  forecastle  view  of  our  situation. 

Nor  was  I  made  very  easy  by  the  suggestions  of  the  men's 
postures.  A  sailor  can  express  mutiny  by  an  attitude,  and 
with  tight  and  silent  lips  dart  curses  at  you  with  his  looks. 
But  my  resolution  was  formed  and  as  hard  as  nails  on  this 
question  of  a  female  crew.  I  went  to  the  poop  rail  and  looked 


A   FORECASTLE  DANCE.  175 

a  minute-at  the  women,  who  stared  up  at  me  with  countenances 
awork  with  curiosity.  Kate  was  in  the  thick  of  them,  Alice 
Perry  in  the  foreground,  almost  directly  under  me.  Near  her 
stood  the  black  hung-faced  Jewess  Emma  Marks  ;  her  purple 
pupils  on  yellow  ground  made  her  seem  to  stare  up  at  me  with 
a  small  pair  of  sunflowers  for  eyes. 

In  a  few  words  I  told  the  women  I  considered  the  ship 
short-handed,  and  asked  some  of  their  number  to  form  into  a 
little  company  to  be  instructed  in  the  art  of  steering,  and  in 
the  names  and  uses  of  the  rigging,  yards,  and  sails. 

Brigstock,  standing  abreast  of  me  to  leeward,  listened  atten- 
tively ;  while  I  spoke  Joe  Harding  turned  to  some  of  the  men 
he  stood  beside  on  the  skirts  of  the  women  and  talked  with 
them. 

"  Of  course,  ladies,"  I  continued,  "  the  scheme  is  more  for 
your  entertainment  than  for  utility.  Yet,  seeing  what  a  big 
company  we  are,  and  that  our  crew  of  men  numbers  twelve 
only,  I  say  it  will  be  for  the  good  of  the  whole  shipload  of  us 
that  we  should  be  able  to  count  upon  the  services  of  a  trained 
number  of  you  at  any  moment." 

"  What  '11  be  expected  of  them  that  volunteers  ? "  said  Emma 
Marks. 

"  They'll  take  the  wheel  from  time  to  time  in  fine  weather, 
and  help  on  deck  when  the  watch  are  aloft  reefing  or  furling." 

"  Will  they  be  paid  for  their  work?  "  said  Emma. 

"  The  owners  or  agents  are  sure  to  recognize  their  services." 

"  No  female  could  climb  those  heights  !  "  cried  Miss  Cobbs, 
who  stood  on  the  quarter-deck  just  under  the  poop  where 
Brigstock  was. 

"  Try  me  !  "  shrieked  Alice  Perry,  with  a  quick  clasp  of  her 
hands  and  a  loud  laugh  as  she  looked  at  Miss  Cobbs. 

I  now  made  a  sort  of  speech  in  which  I  related  one  or  two 
anecdotes  of  women  who  had  shipped  on  board  vessels  as 
sailors.  I  said  that  no  doubt  the  crew  could  tell  of  young 
seamen  who  had  proved  women. 

"  That's  right  enough,  sir,"  cried  out  the  cook,  a  man  named 
Wambold.  "  I  was  in  hospital  at  Calcutta  three  years  ago 
along  with  a  young  ordinary  seaman  who'd  been  took  with 
cholera  ;  he  died,  and  they  found  him  a  gal." 

I  continued  my  address.  I  said  that  those  ladies  who  were 
willing  to  learn  to  be  sailors  would  assemble  at  fixed  times  on 
the  poop,  where  they'd  receive  instruction  from  me.  I  had  no 
doubt,  I  said,  that  Mr.  Brigstock  and  Mr.  Harding,  together 
with  others  of  the  crew,  would  be  glad  to  lend  me  hand. 
There  was  a  long  voyage  before  us  ;  amusements  were  hard 


rjt  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

to  invept.  The  work  to  be  done  would  improve  the  graces  of 
the  figure  ;  what  was  more  elegant  than  the  light,  dancing, 
easy  step  of  the  sailor?  This  charming  gait  and  flowing  car- 
riage of  figure  the  sailor  girls  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  would 
speedily  though  insensibly  acquire.  The  effect  of  such  deep- 
sea  graces  upon  the  Australians,  who  were  to  a  man  lovers  of 
the  ocean,  might  prove  exceedingly  fortunate  formany  of  the 
ladies. 

I  talked  on  in  this  strain,  then  asked  those  who  were  willing 
to  volunteer  as  a  supplemental  crew  to  hold  up  their  hands. 

Now  there  was  no  sickness  in  the  ship  at  that  time,  and  I 
believe  that  every  living  person  on  board  was  on  deck  ;  you 
will  suppose,  then,  that  the  women  and  seamen  made  a  great 
crowd.  When  I  asked  them  to  lift  their  hands  I  had  reckoned 
upon  about  a  dozen  girls  doing  so.  Judge  how  astonished  I 
was  when  at  least  seventy  arms  were  flung  up,  and  there  the 
women  stood,  pretty  nearly  the  whole  of  them,  as  it  seemed  at 
the  first  glance,  with  their  hands  in  the  air,  one  straining  on 
tiptoe  behind  another,  most  of  them  with  eager  smiling  faces. 
I  took  this  as  expressive  of  their  resentment,  and  as  a  protest 
against  Brigstock  and  his  lot.  Indeed  I  felt  tolerably  sure 
that  had  they  supposed  Brigstock  and  the  crew  favored  my 
scheme  the  show  of  hands  would  have  been  exceedingly 
poor. 

I  called  out  "  All  right!  "  signing  that  they  might  put  their 
arms  down.  I  then  said  in  my  politest  tones,  "  Ladies,  I 
thank  you  for  your  ready  acceptance  of  my  wishes.  We  shall 
not  need  all  the  volunteers  by  one-half  at  least.  I  therefore 
propose,  with  your  consent,  to  choose  from  among  you  while 
you  stand  there.  Those  I  select  will  be  so  good  as  to  step  on 
to  the  poop.  Those  who  are  not  chosen  will  please  under- 
stand that  they  are  held  in  reserve,  to  be  drawn  upon  as  we 
may  need  recruits." 

The  first  I  pointed  to  was  Alice  Perry,  who  instantly  bounded 
up  the  poop  ladder,  with  shining  eyes  and  a  frolicsome  shake 
of  the  head,  and  a  saucy,  laughing  look  at  Brigstock,  who  eyed 
her  in  solemn  silence  as  she  danced  up  the  steps.  I  then 
pointed  to  a  second  girl  named  Emmy  Reed,  a  stout,  strong 
young  woman  of  about  seven-and-twenty.  One  after  another 
the  women  I  beckoned  at  came  on  to  the  poop.  I  picked  out 
thirty  of  the  strongest  and  the  likeliest.  Some,  with  their  broad 
backs  and  stout  arms,  would  have  proved  a  match  for  any  of 
our  men,  whether  at  a  steady  drag  upon  a  rope,  nay,  or  at 
wrestling,  or  at  boxing  for  that  matter,  suppose  you  trained 
$hem  to  keep  their  temper.  Kate  made  thirty-one, 


A  FORECASTLE  DANCE.  177 

They  seemed  highly  diverted.  Those  on  the  main  deck 
stared  at  us  with  moody,  jealous  looks.  None  of  the  seamen's 
"  pardners  "  volunteered.  On  the  contrary,  they  had  backed 
away  while  I  was  picking  and  choosing,  and  were  making  a 
crowd  with  the  sailors  in  the  gangway.  I  found  an  eye  for 
them,  and  noticed  they  talked  earnestly.  The  massive  Emma 
Grubb,  burly  as  a  big  smack  boy,  jabbered,  hands  on  hip,  with 
the  seaman  of  her  choice,  Isaac  Coffin,  who  barely  reached  to 
her  nose.  The  two  sisters  Jess  and  Nan  Honeyball  were  loud 
and  demonstrative  ;  Wambold  was  Nan's  partner,  and  a  man 
named  Luddy  Jess'.  There,  too,  was  the  moon-faced  Kate 
Davis  of  the  huge  red  arms;  Jupe  Jackson  was  her  pal, -and 
she  talked  in  that  crowd  with  both  hands  upon  his  shoulders, 
as  though  "standing  by"  to  shake  the  life  out  of  him  at  a 
moment's  notice. 

And  here  let  me  say  that  the  other  ladies  who  were  to 
serve  as  mothers  for  a  settlement  of  Britons  in  the  Pacific 
were — I  got  their  names,  one  by  one,  by  degrees  afterward — 
Martha  Gibbs,  dairymaid,  the  partner  of  Sampson,  then  at  the 
wheel  ;  Selah  Bung,  seamstress  (Gouger);  Maggie  Dobree, 
seamstress  (Bob  Weatherwax)  ;  Nan  Nesbitt,  nursemaid 
(Jonathan  Snortledge);  Isabella  Dobson,  cook  (Hull);  Sail 
Simmonds,  housemaid  (Prentice).  The  others  you  know. 

Brigstock  paced  athwart  the  back  of  the  poop.  He  viewed 
me  often  askew.  The  girls  I  had  picked  out  were  in  a  crowd 
abreast  of  the  weather  mizzen  rigging. 

"  A  finer  body  of  women,"  said  I,  running  my  eye  over 
them,  letting  my  gaze  barely  rest  on  Kate  with  an  instant's 
smile,  "  no  man  could  desire  to  make  sailors  of.  Ladies, 
you're  doing  me  honor,  not  only  obliging  me,  but  greatly 
helping  yourselves  also,  believe  me,"  said  I  earnestly.  "  I'll 
give  a  lesson  this  afternoon.  There's  too  strong  a  breeze,  too 
high  a  sea  for  any  helm  work  now.  I  shall  want  a  bo'sun  and 
two  mates." 

At  these  words  two  mates  three  or  four  girls  burst  into  a 
laugh. 

"  I'll  be  bo'sun  !  "  cried  Alice  Perry,  swaying  with  the  bowl- 
ing roll  of  the  stage  Jack  as  she  stood,  as  though  about  to 
break  into  a  jig. 

"  That  post  will  be  filled  by  the  smartest,"  said  I,  and  then 
asked  them  to  accompany  me  to  the  wheel. 

They  all  followed  me,  laughing  and  ejaculating  and  highly 
pleased.  Kate  was  as  eager  as  any  of  them  in  her  behavior, 
and  I  admired  her  tact.  The  able  seaman  Sampson  was  at 
the  helm  ;  he  was  a  tough-looking  chap  with  a  leather  face, 


178  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

and  eyes  sunk  in  their  sockets  as  though  blown  deep  by  years 
of  hard  weather.  He  wore  a  wild  expression,  as  of  a  grin 
struggling  with  a  scowl,  when  the  women  closed  around  him, 
and  chewed  hard  upon  the  knob  inside  his  cheek,  snapping 
glances  at  the  compass  bowl,  then  aloft,  and  swinging  off  from 
the  wheel,  whose  machinery  of  tackle  and  kicking  tiller  gave 
him  plenty  to  think  of,  so  abrupt  was  the  sternward  pUinge 
at  times  into  the  thunderous  rush  of  yeast  under  the 
counter. 

The  women  listened  with  close  attention  while  I  explained 
the  mechanism  of  the  wheel,  often  exclaiming,  "  Lor',  now  ! 
— Fs'y,  though — Aint  it  croolly  funny  !  "  and  so  forth. 

The  strapping  girl  who  called  herself  the  daughter  of  a 
Deal  boatman  thrust  close  beside  me  to  hearken,  and  when  I 
was  done  she  asked  leave  to  try  her  hand  at  the  wheel.  1 
looked  her  over,  and  seeing  confidence  strong  in  her  face, 
nodded,  and  told  Sampson  to  get  to  leeward,  ready  to  help, 
but  not  to  touch  the  spokes. 

This  Deal  girl's  name  was  Susannah  Corbin.  She  grasped  the 
wheel  as  though  to  the  manner  born.  The  kicks  of  the  tiller 
made  her  breasts  heave,  but  with  large  nostrils  and  set  lips 
she  held  the  ship  to  her  course,  and  though  she  stood  at  the 
helm  for  five  or  six  minutes,  not  once  had  Sampson  occasion 
to  help  her. 

"  What  think  you  of  this  ?  "  said  I  to  the  women. 

"  You'll  give  me  a  chance,  I  'ope,  before  you  make  her 
bo'sun,"  exclaimed  Alice  Perry. 

"  Let  me  try  my  hand,"  said  Kate. 

She  took  the  wheel  from  the  Deal  girl  and  made  so  hand- 
some a  figure  at  it  that  you  must  have  fallen  in  love  with  her 
even  as  a  picture,  but  nothing  could  better  show  off  a  fine 
shape  than  a  ship's  wheel,  which  stretches  the  arms  and 
compels  the  form  into  all  sorts  of  yielding,  swaying  motions. 

The  ship  was  speedily  three  points  off  her  course  with  Kate 
at  the  helm,  and  Sampson  came  to  windward  again.  We  were 
closely  observed  by  the  seamen  and  a  number  of  women  in  the 
fore  parts  of  the  ship,  whence  the  sight  commanded  the  length 
of  the  poop.  I  told  my  company  of  girls  that  I  would  give 
them  a  lesson  in  seamanship  that  afternoon,  and  away  they 
went  to  the  main  deck  laughing,  joking,  and  talking,  all  in  high 
spirits,  some  acting  as  though  turning  a  wheel  or  pulling  a 
rope,  others  leaping  and  singing.  They  filed  down  the  poop 
ladder  in  a  tumult  of  laughter  and  voices. 

I  detained  Kate  on  the  poop  for  a  walk  and  a  chat. 

"  I  think  you  are  puzzling  Brigstock,"  said  she. 


A   FORECASTLE  DANCE.  179 

"  No  matter.  I'll  make  good  sailors  of  those  women  long 
before  we're  up  with  the  Horn." 

"  Would  it  not  be  good  policy  to  be  candid  with  Brig- 
stock  and  the  crew  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,  if  I  were  as  cocksure  that  all  hands  were  as 
much  in  earnest  in  this  island  scheme  as  Brigstock  is.  But 
I  don't  want  them  to  change  their  minds.  My  intention  is 
to  preserve  this  ship  with  the  help  of  the  women.  I  mean  to 
be  the  hero  of  one  of  the  most  memorable  adventures  in 
sea  story." 

"  The  men  won't  carry  out  their  scheme." 

"  I'll  find  them  an  island  anyway." 

"The  girls  are  absurdly  delighted  with  the  idea  of  becoming 
sailors,"  said  she,  laughing.  "  But  without  men  how  will  you 
reef  and  furl  ?  " 

"  Breek  Alice  Perry  and  she'd  be  sending  down  a  royal 
yard  in  a  week,"  said  I. 

This  was  Hebrew  to  her. 

"  I'll  steer  your  ship  and  pull  your  ropes,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  but  you'll  never  drive  me  up  there,"  and  she  halted,  looking 
straight  up  at  the  swollen  and  towering  canvas. 

I  changed  the  subject  by  talking  once  more  of  her  pros- 
pects in  Australia,  and  we  had  a  long  chat  about  home.  She 
told  me  one  or  two  touching  stories  of  her  struggles. 

"  Well,  you're  out  of  it  all  here,"  said  I.  "  There's  nothing 
white-lipped  and  black-hearted  in  the  shape  of  mistresses 
aboard  us  ;  no  small  pudding-heads  here  to  fill  with  geog- 
raphy and  arithmetic.  When  those  hearts  there  are  out  of 
the  ship  you  shall  be  her  chief  mate." 

After  I  had  taken  sights  that  day  I  asked  Brigstock  if 
there  was  a  bo'sun  whistle  in  the  forecastle.  He  said  there 
might  be  one  in  the  chest  left  behind  by  the  boatswain  of  the 
vessel.  I  requested  him  to  look.  He  answered,  "  The  sacred- 
ness  of  proputty's  a  thing  I'm  for  impressing  strongly  upon 
the  minds  of  those  who  go  along  with  me.  How'd  it  stand 
with  my  arguments  if  the  crew  was  to  see  me  overhaul  the 
bo'sun's  chest  ?" 

I  glanced  at  the  clothes  he  had  borrowed  from  one  of  the 
cabins  and  said  gravely,  "  Mr.  Brigstock,  I  admire  your  prin- 
ciples, and  should  be  sorry  to  ask  you  to  do  anything  likely  to 
weaken  the  valuable  influence  you  exercise  over  the  crew. 
Still,  if  you  could  contrive  without  prejudice  to  your  moral 
control  to  find  me  a  bo'sun's  whistle  you'll  much  oblige  me." 

When  he  came  into  the  cabin  at  the  dinner  hour  he  brought 
a  whistle  with  him.  I  thanked  him,  but  asked  no  questions. 


i8o  THE  EMIGRANT  SfffP. 

It  had  no  doubt  belonged  to  the  late  bo'sun,  and  it  was  an  old 
silver  pipe,  which  blew  a  shrill  sweet  whistle  when  I  put  it  to 
my  lips. 

While  I  dined  most  of  the  women  came  on  deck  and  hung 
about  as  though  waiting  for  me,  some  peeping  in  at  the  cabin 
door  and  windows.  Brigstock  talked  a  good  deal  about  his 
constitootion,  and  said  one  of  the  main  principles  of  it  would 
be  religious  equality. 

"  It's  terrible  to  consider,"  said  he,  "  that  a  man  may  be 
wrong,  though  he  thinks  he's  right,  so  that  by  a-forcing  of  his 
own  opinions  he  stands  at  Judgment  Day  to  be  charged  with 
the  loss  of  souls.  One  sperrit's  enough  for  a  man  to  look 
arter,  and  that's  his  own.  The  hessence  of  the  religion  of  my 
constitootion  '11  be  :  Let  every  man  see  to  his  own  soul  ;  he'll 
have  no  time  then  to  trouble  himself  about  others,  and  so  we 
may  scrape  along  without  much  preachin'." 

He  continued  for  some  time  in  this  strain.  I  listened  with 
attention.  A  rude  enthusiasm  glowed  in  his  words,  and 
lighted  up  his  dark  steady  eyes,  and  slightly  reddened  his 
long,  formal,  melancholy  face.  If  ever  I  had  questioned  the 
fellow's  sincerity  and  zeal  as  a  settler  and  primitive  father, 
all  doubt  must  have  ended  while  I  now  followed  him.  Just 
before  he  left  the  table  to  relieve  Joe  Harding  he  said,  "  May 
I  ask,  capt'n,  if  you're  in  airnest  in  your  scheme  about  them 
women  ?  Or  is  it  your  notion  jest  to  amuse  'em  ?" 

"  They'll  prove  serviceable,"  I  answered  shortly ;  then  ob- 
serving that  he  stood  and  looked  at  me,  I  said,  "  I  shall 
expect  you  and  Mr.  Harding  to  help  in  training  the  girls." 

With  the  instinctive  obedience  of  the  old  hand,  he  muttered, 
"  Aye,  aye,  sir,"  and  slowly  made  his  way  on  deck. 

There  was  in  me  at  this  time  a  spirit  of  indifference  that 
was  a  sort  of  insolence,  due,  perhaps,  to  my  feeling  strong  as 
the  only  navigator  in  the  ship.  I  was  young  and  wanting  in 
wariness.  Again,  for  some  years  I  had  held  situations  of  com- 
mand. I  failed  to  steadily  keep  in  mind  the  conditions  under 
which  this  Earl  of  Leicester  was  sailed  ;  the  quarter-deck  habit 
was  dominant,  and  I  never  could  talk  to  Brigstock  and  the 
others  but  as  forecastle  hands,  designed  by  nature  to  hop  and 
fly  when  a  skipper  or  a  mate  sung  out. 

But  let  this  be  as  it  will.  When  Brigstock  was  out  of  the 
cabin  I  went  to  the  cuddy  door  and  asked  the  women  who 
were  hanging  about  in  clusters  under  the  break  of  the  poop 
to  send  Miss  Darnley  aft  if  she  was  disengaged.  Some  of  the 
girls  ran  with  wonderful  willingness  and  alacrity,  crying  for 
Miss  Darnley  along  the  deck  and  down  the  hatch.  Party 


A   FORECASTLE  DANCE.  181 

feeling  was  expressed  even  in  this  little  thing  ;  it  was  already 
Brigstock  and  his  small  Utopian  clan  on  the  one  hand,  and 
myself  and  the  great  mass  of  •  the  emigrant  women  on  the 
other. 

Kate  came  through  the  crowd  to  the  door  where  I  stood  ; 
she  looked  startled  ;  she  was  pale  and  nervous. 

"  What  is  it  ? "  she  asked. 

"  Step  in,"  said  I. 

She  entered,  and  I  drew  her  to  the  after  end  of  the  cuddy. 

"  What's  frightened  you  ?  " 

"  A  dozen  women  have  been  screeching  out  my  name." 

"  What  of  that  ?  " 

"  You  can't  imagine  the  effect  of  hearing  your  name  ringing 
through  a  ship  in  a  dozen  sorts  of  screams.  What  do  you 
want  ?  Look  how  they  are  staring  !  " 

I  pulled  out  the  boatswain's  whistle,  and,  putting  it  to  my 
lips,  piped  a  call.  I  had  learned  to  pipe  when  I  first  went  to 
sea,  and  warbled  like  a  canary  now,  though  years  had  passed 
since  I  had  put  a  sea  whistle  to  my  mouth.  The  women,  hear- 
ing that  shrill  music,  gathered  in  a  thickening  crowd  at  the 
cuddy  front,  but  none  offered  to  enter. 

"  Did  you  hear  that?  "  said  I. 

"  I  did,"  she  answered,  bringing  her  hands  from  her  ears. 

"  I  want  you  to  learn  certain  calls  that  you  may  pipe  the 
women  to  school  and  afterward  to  their  work.  Blow  now." 

I  gave  her  the  whistle  and  she  blew  ;  I  took  it  from  her  and 
piped  and  trilled,  and  bade  her  imitate  the  noise.  She  did  so 
in  a  manner  that  satisfied  me  she  would  soon  be  mistress  of 
that  whistle.  We  blew  together  in  this  fashion  for  about  half 
an  hour.  The  women  outside  at  first  looked  amused  and 
excited,  but  as  the  time  wore  on  they  grew  impatient.  One 
of  them,  a  red-faced,  thin-featured  person  named  Catharine 
Hale,  standing  in  the  doorway,  bawled  out  at  last : 

"  I  thought  we  was  to  have  a  lesson.  Is  Miss  Darnley  to  be 
the  only  one  taught  ? " 

I  asked  for  the  time.  One  behind  her  looked  up  at  the 
clock  and  said  it  was  after  half-past  two. 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  up  with  you  ladies  on  to  the  poop,"  and 
Kate  and  I  went  on  deck  by  the  companion  steps. 

When  the  girls  were  assembled  I  told  them  I  meant  to 
teach  Miss  Darnley  certain  tunes  on  the  boatswain's  pipe,  with 
which  airs  she  would  when  perfect  summon  them  on  to  the 
poop  twice  a  day,  weather  permitting.  I  drew  them  up  in 
double  ranks  just  before  the  wheel,  and  pointed  to  such  gear 
as  I  intended  they  should  get  the  names  of,  often  stepping  to 


1 82  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  ropes  where  they  were  belayed  to  pins,  so  that  by  seeing 
how  they  led  they  could  better  understand  their  uses,  and  then 
I  made  them  repeat  the  names  and  my  explanations.  They 
took  it  all  as  good  fun,  and  yet  were  fairly  in  earnest  too.  I 
guessed  their  education  in  this  way  would  occupy  some  time, 
for  many  were  dull,  thick,  and  slow  ;  those  were  unfortunately 
the  coarsest  and  strongest,  the  best  of  all  to  answer  my  pur- 
pose. But  then  I  did  not  want  much  knowledge  in  them  ;  the 
ability  to  run  to  such  ropes,  to  brace  about  such  yards,  to  let 

fo  and  hoist  away  upon  such  halyards  as  I  named,  would  suf- 
ce,  and  there  was  plenty  of  time  before  us. 

We  were  watched  with  curiosity  by  the  seamen  and  their 
"  pardners,"  and  many  of  the  ladies  crowded  up  the  poop 
ladders  and  got  upon  the  bulwark  rails  to  observe  our  pro- 
ceedings. I  kept  the  girls  on  deck  till  four  o'clock,  teaching 
and  talking  to  them.  Some  were  quick  in  picking  up  the 
terms  and  correctly  applying  them,  and  among  these  were  Alice 
Perry,  a  girl  named  Clark  who  wore  spectacles,  and  the  Deal 
girl  Corbin. 

When  the  lesson  was  ended  I  lifted  my  hat  and  thanked 
them  for  their  attention,  and  added  significantly  and  very 
earnestly,  "  All  this  is  intended  for  your  safety."  They  then 
left  the  poop  in  a  troop,  and  presently  the  main  deck  was  noisy 
with  their  own  and  the  laughter  of  others  as  they  went  over 
their  lessons  again,  one  crying,  "  Emmy,  which  is  the  main 
topgallant  brace  ?"  and  another,  "Miss  Marsdale,  what's  the 
mizzen  topsail  halyards  ?  "  and  a  third,  "  Susie,  where's  the  end 
of  the  starboard  main  brace  ? " 

Now  and  again  one  of  the  Jacks  barked  out  a  laugh  at 
these  calls. 

Eight  bells  had  gone  ;  the  first  dog-watch  had  begun.  It 
was  a  glorious  afternoon  ;  the  light  of  the  sun  was  yellow  as 
pale  gold,  untinged  as  yet  by  the  hectic  of  the  west  ;  the 
trade  wind  was  a  steady  pouring  breeze,  and  the  ship,  to  the 
faithful  spiriting  of  it,  swept  onward  at  a  steamer's  constant 
rate.  The  two  last  heaves  of  the  log  had  shown  nine,  neither 
more  nor  less.  While  I  paced  the  deck  after  the  lesson  I 
thought  to  myself,  The  Horn's  not  distant  at  this  going  ;  I've 
not  begun  too  soon  ! 

At  supper  Brigstock  asked  me  respectfully  how  I  got  on. 
I  answered  that  I  was  very  well  satisfied. 

"  The  men  fancy,"  said  he,  "  that  some  of  the  females  asked 
jer  to  teach  'em,  meanin'  to  turn  sailors  if  they  aren't  able  to 
get  work  out  in  Australia." 

"  Strange  that  a  simple  idea  should  be  so  hard  to  under- 


A  FORECASTLE  DANCE.  183 

stand,"  said  I,  guessing  that  his  sentence  was  a  "  feeler."  "  It 
may  come  to  our  wanting  hands,  and  what  you  can't  find  you 
must  make." 

His  mind  struggled  with  this;  he  then  said,  "What  d'jer 
think's  goin'  to  happen  to  the  crew  afore  we  falls  in  with  our 
island? " 

I  was  on  the  point  of  bluntly  confessing  my  intention,  with  a 
swift  fancy  in  me  that  Kate  was  right,  but  was  checked  by  my 
first  motive  of  secrecy.  So  I  curtly  replied  that  I  considered 
the  Earl  of  Leicester  undermanned  ;  we  had  the  Horn  to  pass, 
where  we  might  be  thankful  for  a  supplementary  crew,  even 
though  they  should  be  petticoated  ;  I  added  that  I  looked  to 
him  and  Harding  to  assist  me. 

He  munched  his  biscuit  and  drank  his  black  tea  in  silence. 

"There'll  be  no  objection  to  a  bit  of  dancing  afore  sun- 
down ?  "  says  he  presently. 

"A  bit  of  dancing?" 

"  The  men  and  their  pardners." 

"  And  you  ? " 

He  shook  his  head,  while  one  of  his  grave  smiles  traveled 
cat's-paw  fashion  over  his  long  face,  and  answered,  "  No,  sir. 
I'm  too  old  for  the  likes  of  that  sorter  vanity.  But  I'm  for 
encouraging  'armless  enjoyment.  There's  to  be  nothen  mel- 
ancholic in  the  constitootion.  No  groanin' — nothen  liverish. 
I've  read  of  Crumrnell.  The  theayters  was  locked  up  in  them 
times,  plum  duff  was  a  sin  'cos  it  was  reckoned  a  papish  super- 
stition. When  a  man  talked  pious  he  drawed  his  sperrit  into 
his  nose  to  jaw  through.  What  followed  ?  Horgies.  I'm  for 
natur,  only  she's  got  to  be  measured  for  a  long  skirt  afore  she 
can  please  me." 

I  burst  out  a-laughing  and  left  the  table. 

I  was  curious  and  anxious  too  to  see  what  sort  of  figure  the 
men  and  their  partners  would  make  in  dancing,  also  if  others 
besides  the  "  pardners  "  meant  to  dance.  I  had  at  some  earlier 
time  heard  the  strains  of  a  fiddle  in  the  'tween  decks,  and  now 
at  this  hour,  drawing  on  to  six  o'clock,  a  good-looking  young 
woman  of  the  shop-girl  order,  neat  and  slender,  came  on  deck 
accompanied  by  Kate  Davis,  and  walked  toward  the  forecastle, 
where  the  ship's  company,  saving  the  man  at  the  wheel,  and 
Harding,  who  had  the  lookout,  stood  waiting,  all  grins  and 
restless  shuffling,  all  in  their  best  togs  too,  and  as  clean  as 
a  bucket  of  salt  water,  and  maybe  one  half  comb  and  a  single 
brush  of  scattered  bristles  for  the  whole  forecastle  could  make 
them. 

The  neat  and  slender  girl  held  a  fiddle  in  one  hand  and 


t$4  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

a  bow  in  the  other.  Jupe  Jackson  at  the  head  of  the  fore- 
castle ladder  convulsed  his  figure  at  her  in  an  extraordinary 
bow,  and  not  without  a  kind  of  wild  rough  grace,  handed  and 
securely  seated  her  on  top  of  the  booms  stowed  over  the  long- 
boat, where  she  at  once  fell  to  tuning  up.  All  the  women  who 
had  agreed  to  be  married  to  the  sailors  by  Brigstock  and  live 
upon  an  island  now  mounted  on  to  the  forecastle,  Miss  Cobbs 
leading  the  way.  Brigstock  received  this  lady  and  took  her 
into  the  head,  where  they  seated  themselves  out  of  the  road, 
but  in  a  position  that  enabled  them  to  see  all  that  passed. 
A  large  number  of  the  women  went  below  as  though  to  mark 
their  scorn  and  disgust,  but  I'll  not  say  those  passions  were 
unmixed  ;  I  dare  suppose  there  was  a  good  deal  of  jealousy 
among  them.  Many,  however,  stayed  and  watched  the  scene 
from  the  main  and  quarter-decks. 

The  forecastle  was  a  bad  dancing  floor  with  its  litter  of 
stowed  anchors  and  fore-scuttle  and  windlass  gear.  Probably 
the  sailors  would  have  used  the  quarter-deck  but  for  their  fear 
of  being  crowded  by  the  women,  and  jostled  and  hindered. 
I  took  notice  there  were  no  refreshments.  This  pleased  me. 
It  proved,  at  all  events,  that  Brigstock  and  his  fellows  were  con- 
sistent in  their  views  of  equality  ;  they  would  not  themselves 
eat  and  drink,  nor  give  to  their  "  pardners,"  what  the  rest  of 
the  emigrants  did  not  get.  It  also  exhibited  a  resolution  of 
sobriety  that  was  as  good  as  a  warranty  of  decorum. 

I  looked  for  Kate,  wanting  her  at  my  side  to  view  the  queer 
ocean  pastime,  but  she  was  of  those  who  were  below.  The 
sunshine  was  red  ;  it  painted  the  hard  breasts  of  sails  that 
color.  The  water  rushed  aft  in  a  cataractal  race  of  foam 
from  the  driving  bows,  but  the  run  of  the  sea  was  steady,  nor 
had  its  volume  the  weight  of  the  morning  surge,  and  the  clip 
of  the  head  was  as  regular  as  the  swing  of  a  pendulum,  a  light, 
gentle,  airy  courtesy  and  toss,  proper  to  put  a  livelier  nimble- 
ness  into  flying  feet,  and  a  spirit  beyond  the  magic  of  the  bow 
into  the  melodies  of  the  catgut. 

The  girl  on  the  booms  screwed  up  her  fiddle  and  fell  to 
playing.  Every  man  then  seized  his  partner,  and  all  danced. 
It  was  the  sailor's  favorite  dance — the  polka,  the  only  shuffle, 
besides  the  hornpipe,  he  seems  to  care  about. 

The  girls  on  the  main  deck  came  together  in  groups,  and 
nudged  each  other  with  frequent  titters,  and  some  would  step 
away  over  to  leeward  as  though  they  could  no  longer  con- 
descend to  look  on,  but  they  always  came  back  again.  It  was 
a  pretty  picture,  humorous  with  Brigstock's  long  face  and 
Miss  Cobbs'  bonnet  alongside  him  nodding  with  the  music. 


A    FORECASTLE  DANCE.  185 

The  sailors  and  the  girls  danced  decorously  and  well.  The 
shadows  of  the  canvas  and  the  red  moist  light  of  the  sun 
touched  the  revolving  forms,  .fled  and  touched  them  again, 
and  it  happened  that  the  red  light  was  always  upon  them 
when  the  bows  sank,  and  threw  up  the  blue  mass  of  ocean 
ahead,  foam  streaked  to  the  horizon,  as  high  as  the  flying  jib 
boom  end,  as  a  background  for  the  twisting  and  sliding 
figures.  I  liked  too  the  sight  of  the  pretty,  slender  girl  on 
the  booms  with  her  smiling  face — her  eyes  on  the  dancers — 
aslant  on  the  fiddle,  and  her  slender  arm  sawing  gracefully  as 
the  bough  of  a  tree  bends  and  lifts  with  a  breeze. 

The  man  at  the  wheel  was  Weatherwax,  and  his  partner, 
Maggie  Dobree,  stood  with  Sarah  Salmon,  Harding's  choice, 
near  Brigstock  and  Miss  Cobbs,  looking  on.  There  were 
nine  couples,  and  they  covered  the  forecastle  with  dancing 
shapes.  I  watched  them  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  and  then 
went  below. 

In  about  an  hour  I  returned  to  see  how  the  dancing 
progressed.  The  sun  was  gone,  but  a  wide  flush  of  dying 
sunlight  filled  the  fresh  wind  with  a  solemn  beautiful  color, 
like  that  which  irradiates  a  cathedral  through  painted  windows. 
I'd  scarcely  got  my  head  out  of  the  companionway  when 
I  heard  a  noise  of  screeching  voices,  and  running  to  the  break 
of  the  poop,  I  saw  two  women  fighting  abreast  of  the  galley 
door.  The  scene  with  its  crowds  of  women  and  sailors,  the 
two  hair-pulling  and  shrieking  females,  the  shouts  of  men  and 
the  yelping  and  laughter  of  girls,  made  that  fore  end  of  the 
ship  loojc  like  a  street  in  a  low  neighborhood  when  an  alley 
row  is  in  full  flower.  Brigstock  from  the  head  of  the  fore- 
castle steps  was  roaring  to  the  people  to  separate  the  women. 
Jupe  Jackson  was  yelling,  "  Give  over,  Kate  ;  there's  no  harm 
done  !  You're  too  much  for  her  with  them  fists  o'  yourn  !  " 

Though  the  women  were  separated  after  a  few  minutes, 
they  fought  in  that  time  with  bloody  desperation  and  tigerish 
rage.  They  pulled  each  other's  hair  down,  they  pulled  each 
other's  hats  off,  they  scratched  and  bit  and  kicked,  their 
dresses  flew  as  they  tugged  and  clawed  and  sprang,  and 
a  light  shawl  streamed  in  rags  from  the  shoulders  of  one  of 
them  like  bunting  wrecked  with  shot.  The  most  dreadful 
part  was  the  noise  they  made  :  they  screeched  like  railway 
whistles,  they  howled  like  the  jackals  of  the  Hooghly,  they 
moaned  like  midnight  cats. 

"  What's  the  matter  there  ? "  I  called  down  the  slant  of  the 


poop  to  Harding,  who  at  once  came  up  to  me. 
"  Bit  of  a  flare  up  'twixt  Kate  Davis  and  o 


one  of  the  gals/ 


1 86  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

he  answered  in  his  sour  voice  and  sulky  manner.  "  Along 
o'  jealousy,  I  allow.  Can't  tell  'ee  the  cause,  sir." 

By  this  time  the  fight  was  over,  the  women  had  been 
separated.  Kate  Davis  of  the  huge  arms  was  being  lovingly 
led  on  to  the  forecastle  by  the  man  Jupe  Jackson.  The 
woman  she  had  fought  was  coming  aft  in  the  heart  of  a  crowd, 
every  tongue  in  which  was  going.  She  was  crying  violently. 
The  light  was  bad,  but  I  thought  I  could  see  a  very  gridiron 
of  red  scars  upon  her  face.  Her  hat  was  gone,  her  hair  tum- 
bling and  blowing  about  her.  Every  now  and  again  she'd 
oblige  the  crowd  to  stop  while  she  checked  her  passion  of 
weeping  to  shake  her  fist  at  the  forecastle. 

Shortly  after  she  had  disappeared  Brigstock  came  aft. 

"What's  been  wrong  with  you  forward  ?"  said  I. 

"  That  there  Jupe,"  he  answered,  "  has  got  hold  of  a  pardner 
as  is  simply  ate  up  with  jealousy.  While  dancing  she  tripped, 
hurt  her  foot,  and  had  to  rest.  Jupe,  not  being  able  to  stand 
still — the  fiddling  lady  keeping  all  on,  jer  see — calls  to  the 
females  on  the  main  deck  and  asks  one  of  them  to  dance  with 
him.  There  was  two  of  my  mates'  pardners  lying  idle,  but  the 
feeling's  strong  against  a  man  meddling  with  another's  choice, 
and  I'm  for  encouraging  of  it.  Unfortunately  the  party  as 
steps  up  to  Jupe  was  a  girl  he  had  a  sorter  mind  to  afore  he 
settled  on  Kate  Davis.  There  jer  have  it.  The  sight  of  Jupe 
sliding  round  with  his  arm  round  another  female's  waist  was 
more'n  that  there  Kate  could  stand.  She  hups  and  sauces 
the  gal  as  she  passes.  The  gal  sneers.  Kate  follows  her  off 
the  fo'c's'le,  and  then  comes  the  hollering  and  scratchin'." 

"  You'll  want  a  law  against  jealousy  in  your  constitootion," 
said  I.  "  If  this  sort  of  thing's  going  to  happen  stand  by  for 
a  general  capsizal  long  before  you've  roofed  yourself  down 
and  become  a  village." 

"There'll  be  no  more  dancing  forrard,"  said  he  grimly. 

As  he  spoke,  the  darkness  of  the  night  seemed  to  come  with 
the  noise  of  a  gun  out  of  the  east  in  a  sudden  shrilling  and 
piping  gust  of  the  trade  breeze. 

"  Down — fore  topmast  stuns'l  !  "  cried  I,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  male  dancers  were  cutting  capers  afresh  as  they 
shortened  sail. 


THE    WOMEN'S  PLOT.  187 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
THE  WOMEN'S  PLOT. 

FOR  ten  days  all  went  quietly.  We  ran  through  the  trade 
wind  into  light  head  breezes,  sighting  nothing.  Every  morn- 
ing and  every  afternoon  my  company  of  women  assembled  on 
the  poop,  and  by  this  time  they  knew  the  names  of  the  run- 
ning gear  and  of  the  sails  and  yards,  and  many  of  them  could 
spring  to  the  right  rope  and  let  it  go  as  promptly  as  a  seaman. 
I  taught  them  to  pull  with  a  will  and  all  together.  I  found, 
however,  that  not  more  than  seven  were  likely  to  prove  of  use 
at  the  helm.  Three  gave  up  after  a  few  days,  but  their  places 
were  at  once  filled. 

Kate  was  now  playing  the  boatswain's  pipe  with  some  skill. 
She  wore  it  round  her  neck,  and  regularly  called  the  female 
mariners  to  school  with  its  music.  But  neither  Brigstock  nor 
Harding,  nor  indeed  any  of  the  men,  helped  me.  Not  that 
Brigstock  was  to  blame.  He  was  willing  to  teach,  but  the 
girls  refused  to  learn  from  him.  Alice  Perry  declared  she 
would  "  knock  off  "  if  he  taught,  and  her  face  was  on  fire  with 
mutiny  and  hate  as  she  said  so.  Fearing  that  if  Brigstock 
obeyed  my  orders,  the  scheme  would  fall  through,  I  told  him 
not  to  trouble  himself.  It  was  not  work  I  could  impose 
as  a  duty,  and  as  I  did  not  choose  to  court  the  insolence 
of  a  refusal,  I  took  no  notice  of  Harding's  neglect  of  my 
wishes. 

Thus  was  it  with  us  on  the  tenth  day  following  that  incident 
of  the  fight  between  the  two  girls. 

It  was  a  quiet  morning,  the  sea  swelling  gently  out  of  the 
south,  but  the  wind  north,  a  light  breeze,  and  the  ship  was 
wrinkling  along  with  almost  square  yards. 

I  had  been  having  a  long  talk  with  Kate  down  in  a  corner 
of  the  quarter-deck.  She  still  persisted  in  refusing  to  use  the 
after  part  of  the  ship.  Her  delicacy  I  considered  extravagant, 
but  I  admired  her  spirit,  and  indeed  was  already  fond  of  her, 
and  in  whatever  she  liked  and  chose  to  do  she  was  to  be 
allowed  her  own  way.  Had  it  not  been  for  her  sensitiveness 
I'd  have  sent  her  twenty  trifles  out  of  the  lazarette,  where  the 
cabin  stores  were.  She  said  she  could  not  take  things  to  eat 
and  drink  into  a  hole  and  enjoy  them  secretly  and  meanly  ; 
nor  could  she  eat  and  drink  them  openly  at  table,  where  the 
sight  of  them  would  excite  jealousy  and  ill  feeling,  and  lead  to 
difficulties  through  the  "pardners  "  going  to  the  sailors  and 


1 88  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

telling  them  that  the  captain  was  favoring  Miss  Darnley  and 
nobody  else. 

To  return.  After  my  long  chat  with  the  girl  I  stepped  on 
to  the  poop,  and  going  a  little  way  aft,  leaned  over  the  rail  to 
get  a  view  of  the  quarter  boat  as  she  hung  at  the  davits,  think- 
ing all  the  while  what  a  noble  ship  this  was,  and  how  memora- 
ble above  most  sea  feats  would  prove  my  preserving  her  and 
navigating  her  with  women,  should  the  gods  suffer  me  to 
achieve  it. 

While  musing  I  heard  my  name  called,  and  saw  Alice 
Perry,  who  was  on  top  of  the  poop  ladder,  looking  toward  me. 

Brigstock,  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck,  called  out,  "  Now, 
young  woman,  I  must  beg  and  pray  of  you  not  to  come  up 
here  unless  you're  sent  for." 

She  did  not  answer  him,  and  I  approached  her. 

"What  do  you  want?"  I  said. 

"  Captain,"  she  answered,  "  there's  several  of  us  'ud  like  a 
few  words  with  you  in  the  cabin." 

"  Nothing  wrong,  I  hope,"  said  I,  struck  by  her  face  of 
angry  determination,  and  1  sent  a  glance  forward,  wondering 
if  this  coarsely  handsome  girl,  with  her  fine,  saucy  eyes,  and 
strong,  glaring  teeth,  had  been  affronted  by  any  of  the  crew. 

"  We  have  something  to  say,"  she  answered  in  a  low  voice, 
sinking  her  glance  after  darting  a  look  at  Brigstock,  "which 
you  may  think  of  the  greatest  consequence." 
'  I  peered  over  the  rail,  and  observed  a  lot  of  women  stand- 
ing near  the  main  hatch  watching  us.  They  all  belonged  to 
my  company,  as  I  called  the  girls  I  was  training.  I  knew 
their  names  by  this  time.  The  group  consisted  of  five  :  Emmy 
Reed,  Charlotte  Brown,  Flo  Lewis,  Fanny  Pike,  and  Mabel 
Marshall.  Wondering  what  their  business  with  me  could 
signify,  I  told  Alice  Perry  to  enter  the  cuddy  with  the  others 
by  the  quarter-deck  door,  and  I  went  to  meet  them  by  way  of 
the  companion  hatch. 

They  came  to  the  table.  I  asked  them  to  sit,  and  they  were 
about  to  do  so  when  Alice  Perry,  looking  up  at  the  open  sky- 
light, exclaimed,  "  Not  'ere;  Brigstock  '11  be  listening."  They 
passed  to  the  after  end  of  the  table  and  sat  down  beside  the 
shaft  of  mizzenmast. 

"  Who'll  speak  it  ? "  said  Alice  Perry,  looking  at  her  com- 
panions. 

"  Yourself ;  there's  none  better,"  answered  one  of  them. 

"Captain,"  said  Alice  Perry,  standing  up,  "d'yer  mind 
drawing  closer?  Us  girls  have  been  talking  things  over,  and 
we've  come  to  tell  you  of  our  plot,"  said  she.  eying  me  with 


THE    WOMEN'S  PLOT.  189 

her  bold,  extraordinary  spirited  stare,  her  face  full  of  charac- 
ter and  resolution.  "  Since  you've  took  us  in  'and  and  taught 
UG  all  about  the  riggin's  and  sails  of  the  ship,  we  feel  hable  to 
do  without  the  sailors." 

She  paused.  I  smiled  and  said,"  Not  yet  a  while.  There's 
none  good  enough  yet  for  the  wheel  in  bad  weather,  and  how 
should  we  manage  aloft?" 

"  Give  me  a  man's  clothes  ;  I'm  not  afraid  of  climbing," 
she  cried. 

"Lower,  Miss  Perry;  lower,"  exclaimed  the  woman  Emmy 
Reed. 

"  What's  your  plot,  young  ladies?"  said  I. 

"  Why  are  we  to  be  carried  into  a  part  of  the  world  that 
aint  in  our  road,  and  kept  in  this  ship  against  our  wills,  hunt- 
ing about  for  an  island  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  beast 
Brigstock  and  the  beastess  Cobbs,  and  the  degraded  lot  that's 
goin'  along  with  'em?"  said  Alice  Perry,  with  a  sudden  pale- 
ness of  wild  anger  in  her  face. 

"  Lower,  Miss  Perry  ;  lower,"  exclaimed  Emmy  Reed. 

"  Tell  the  capt'n  it,  do,"  said  a  girl,  whose  shrewd  feminine 
sight  was  beginning  to  see  impatience  in  me. 

"  Look  here,  sir,"  said  Alice  sinking  her  voice,  "  our  plot's 
this  :  we  want  you  to  tell  us  how  to  put  the  hatch  on  in  the 
place  where  the  crew  sleeps  so  as  to  imprison  'em.  They  must 
all  be  there.  It  could  be  done  when  you've  ordered  'em  all 
below,  only  we  should  want  to  be  taught  how  to  secure  the 
cover  of  the  square  hole  they  passes  through.  As  to  Brig- 
stock,"  she  went  on,  growing  a  little  shrill  with  the  energy  of 
her  temper  and  the  rapidity  of  her  utterance,  "  if  there's  no 
excuse  to  send  him  into  the  men's  place,  andycu're  not  willing 
to  lay  hands  upon  him,  I'll  engage  with  others  to  tie  an'  lock 
him  up  in  any  part  you  please  to  name." 

They  looked  at  me  to  observe  the  impression  produced  by 
these  words.  I  was  more  interested  and  perhaps  amused  than 
astonished,  and  stepped  under  the  skylight  to  make  sure  that 
Brigstock  was  not  listening.  Plenty  of  women  were  on  the 
quarter-deck,  but  none  at  the  door  and  windows  as  before 
when  I  had  talked  in  this  cuddy. 

"  Your  scheme,"  said  I,  "is  original  and  bold,  but  not  prac- 
ticable. That  being  so,  I  am  placing  myself  in  a  desperately 
perilous  position  by  listening  to  you." 

"  Why  ?  It's  our  secret,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  girls 
named  Fanny  Pike,  a  strong  and  hearty  freckled  lass  of  about 
eighteen. 

"  Have  others  besides  you  six  spoken  of  this  plot  ?  " 


190  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  All  us  girls  as  you're  teaching  of  are  in  it,"  answered 
Alice  Perry. 

"  Suppose  the  men  imprisoned,  what's  the  next  thing  to 
do  ? " 

"  Why,  you'd  navigate  us  to  a  place  that's  near,  if  there  is 
such  a  place,  where  we'd  get  help,  and  then  you'd  steer  us 
straight  to  Australia,"  said  Alice. 

"  I  should  be  for  sailing  straight  'ome,  and  'anding  Brig- 
stock  and  the  men  and  that  ogious  'orror  Cobbs  hover  to  the 
horficers  of  the  law,"  exclaimed  a  woman. 

"  Nothing  in  the  shape  of  your  scheme  is  to  be  thought  of," 
said  I.  "  How  could  I  handle  a  ship  full  of  women  and  not  a 
soul  in  her  able  to  go  aloft — in  these  seas  anyway  ?  It'll  be 
different  in  the  Pacific,  after  the  weeks  of  training  you'll  have 
had  by  then — that's  to  say,  if  you're  willing  to  go  on  learning 
under  me." 

Alice  Perry,  with  her  knitted  black  eyebrows,  daring,  staring 
eyes,  and  heap  of  thick  finger-swept  black  hair  over  her  brow, 
looked  savage  as  a  murderess  with  disappointment. 

"  Why  aint  we  to  be  let  do  it  ? "  she  cried.  "  Are  we  to  be 
kept  messing  about  in  this  ship  to  suit  Cobbs  and  the  others  ? 
/Vgive  'em  'usbands  if  I  had  my  way  !  If  it  aint  to  be  done 
at  once,  why  not  later  when  we're  more  perfick  ?  As  to  climb- 
ing— try  me  !  I'll  find  you  others  no  more  frightened  of  them 
ladders  than  if  they  was  staircases." 

"  It's  not  to  be  thought  of,"  I  repeated  firmly  but  sooth- 
ingly. "  And  now  we  must  invent  some  excuse  for  your  wait- 
ing upon  me.  I  must  be  ready  with  an  answer  to  Brigstock." 

Alice  Perry,  with  a  snap  of  her  fingers  and  a  fiery  toss  of  her 
head,  flounced  out  of  the  cuddy,  hissing  a  tune  through  her 
teeth  in  her  rage  as  she  went.  Two  of  the  others  followed 
her.  The  remainder  got  up,  but  listened  to  me. 

"  You've  sought  information  about  the  situation  of  the 
ship,"  said  I  coolly.  "  It's  quite  reasonable  you  should  wish 
to  know  where  we  are  and  how  far  distant  Sydney  may  be 
from  the  island  that  suits  the  Brigstock  lot.  Tell  that  to 
Alice  Perry  and  the  others  ;  we  must  stick  to  one  story.  And 
be  advised  by  me  ;  if  I  say  no  to  your  scheme  it's  because  I'm 
a  sailor  and  intend  under  God  that  you  shall  keep  your  lives 
and  go  ashore  in  Sydney  in  safety,"  and  making  them  a  bow, 
I  entered  my  cabin. 

I  was  wise  to  be  ready  with  an  answer.  No  sooner  did 
Brigstock  catch  sight  of  me  when  I  went  on  deck  than  he 
stepped  up  and  asked  what  the  females  wanted.  My  reply 
satisfied  him,  then  without  seeming  abruptness  I  led  him  from 


THE    WOMEN'S  PLOT.  191 

the  subject  and  got  him  to  talk  of  his  scheme.  This  put  him 
into  a  good  temper.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  looked  through 
the  ship's  papers  carefully.  I  answered  I  had. 

"  Are  jer  a  judge  of  the  value  of  goods,  sir  ?  "  said  he. 

"  What  sort  of  goods  ?  " 

"  The  cargo  of  this  ship,  for  instance  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  We  don't  want  to  take  in  value  more  than  what  our  wages 
comes'to,  with  a  margin  for  a  claim  for  having  saved  the  ship, 
which  we  reckon  we're  entitled  to,  seeing  we  found  a  navigator 
for  her  when  she  was  without  wan." 

"  You  can't  claim  for  the  safety  for  the  ship  till  you  hear  of 
her  arrival." 

"  That's  true.  But  if  she's  to  go  down  arter  we  leave  her 
the  cargo  we  take's  better  ashore  than  under  water,  aint  it  ? " 
he  exclaimed,  with  a  grave,  knowing  grin. 

I  broke  off  to  measure  the  sun's  height,  and  no  more  was 
said. 

After  dinner  I  went  to  the  quarter-deck  to  find  Kate,  and 
brought  her  on  to  the  poop,  where  I  related  the  proposal  the 
six  women  had  made  to  me  that  morning. 

"  Will  it  be  done  ? "  she  cried  with  an  eagerness  almost 
passionate. 

"  Why,  no,"  I  answered,  and  I  repeated  the  reasons  I  had 
given  the  girls. 

She  looked  up  at  the  masts  and  said,  "Why  couldn't  you 
provide  for  the  sailors  to  take  off  most  of  the  sails  before  the 
women  imprison  them  ?  There'd  be  no  need  to  climb  then. 
You'd  leave  sails  enough  to  blow  the  ship  forward,  but  not 
enough  to  need  removing  if  a  heavy  wind  arose." 

"  You'll  never  command  at  sea." 

"My  heart  knows  I  would  not  for  a  million  pounds." 

"What  would  the  men  think  if  I  reduced  canvas  down  to 
the  topsails,  say,  in  fine  weather  ?  And  don't  you  know  that 
at  any  hour  we  might  encounter  a  gale  which  would  make  that 
main  topsail  up  there  too  much  for  the  ship  by  the  whole  of  its 
reef-bands  ? " 

"  I  don't  understand  you.  But  I  think  the  girls'  scheme 
audaciously  clever  and  practicable." 

"  Always  sink  your  voice  when  we  near  that  fellow  Harding. 
Look  at  his  ears  :  big  as  mantelpiece  oyster  shells.  We  are 
going  along  very  comfortably.  Why  do  you  want  to  lock  up 
the  men  and  so  jeopardize  the  lives  of  the  whole  blessed  lump 
of  us?  The  fellows  are  behaving  quite  well.  No  rows,  no 
affronts,  no  drink,  no  noise  ;  this  is  the  part  of  my  yarn  that 


I92  THE  EMIGRANT  SNIP. 

won't  be  believed.  The  men  are  under  the  influence  of 
Brigstock  ;  let  me  help  them  to  realize  their  island  dream. 
I've  no  right  to  imprison  them.  They're  not  offering  to  run 
away  with  the  ship  or  planning  anything  scoundrelly.  It  suits 
my  prospects  to  leave  things  as  they  are,  Kate.  I  want  to  get 
money  and  command  out  of  this  hull,  and  who  knows  for  all 
your  precious  delicacy  and  fastidiousness  you'll  not  end  in 
using  the  cuddy  below  on  your  voyage  home  ? " 

She  started  and  stared  and  turned  red. 

"  Passage  home  !  "  she  echoed  in  a  low  voice  full  of  astonish- 
ment. "  What  do'you  mean  ?  " 

"  If  the  command  of  this  ship  is  given  to  me  at  Sydney,  and 
I  offer  you  a  passage  home,  will  you  accept  ?  "  , 

"Certainly  not!"  she  exclaimed  with  some  fire.  "Why 
should  I  go  home  ?  For  the  sake  of  another  passage  out,  after 
starving  in  a  garret  till  the  ship  sailed  ?  " 

I  eyed  her  with  a  smile,  and  then  asked  her  to  step  on  the 
quarter-deck  and  pipe  my  girls  to  school.  She  went  at  once, 
looking  very  puzzled,  with  much  color  in  her  face.  A  sailor  in 
the  waist  laughed  uncontrollably  when  her  pipe  sounded.  It 
was  still  very  quiet  weather,  the  right  kind  of  day  for  helm 
practice.  About  fifteen  girls  assembled  ;  after  waiting  a  minute 
or  two  I  inquired  for  the  others.  Susannah  Corbin  answered, 
"  Alice  Perry  says  she  aint  a-going  to  learn  any  more." 

"  Alice  Perry's  but  one,"  said  I.  "  Why  don't  the  rest 
come  ? " 

"  Miss  Perry's  been  going  about  asking  us  not  to,"  answered 
the  girl. 

I  made  no  remark,  though  I  was  extremely  vexed.  It  looked 
as  if  my  scheme  of  a  company  of  female  mariners  must  fall  to 
pieces.  If  it  failed  me  I  foresaw  insuperable  difficulties,  along 
with  the  blankest  disappointment  of  my  secret  earnest  hopes. 
However,  I  kept  my  temper,  and  held  my  tongue,  and  carrying 
the  women  aft,  bade  the  helmsman  stand  aside,  and  gave  three 
of  the  girls  a  lesson  at  the  wheel.  I  say  three  ;  only  that 
number  out  of  the  fifteen  were  good  for  anything  at  the  helm. 
The  other  four  who  were  better  than  these  were  among  those 
who  had  absented  themselves. 

This  training  job,  first  at  the  wheel,  then  at  going  the  rounds, 
making  the  girls  pull  together  to  a  song,  and  the  like,  occupied 
two  hours.  During  much  of  this  time  Alice  Perry  and  the 
rest  of  my  women  watched  us  from  various  parts  of  the  deck, 
Alice  commonly  is  a  posture  of  defiance,  her  head  thrown  back, 
her  arms  crossed  upon  her  breast,  a  sneering  expression  upon 
her  face. 


THE    WOMEN'S  PLOT.  193 

I  went  up  to  her  when  my  work  with  the  others  was  over, 
and  asked  her  to  step  with  me  into  the  cuddy. 

"  Alone  ?  "  she  exclaimed  in  a  sulky  voice. 

"Yes." 

"What  do  you  want  ? " 

"  A  short  chat." 

She  followed  me  into  the  cuddy,  stepping  with  a  sullen  swing 
of  her  body  ;  I  stopped  her  at  the  foremost  end  of  the  cabin 
table  so  that  all  on  the  quarter-deck  should  have  us  in  sight. 
I  could  see  now  that  she  had  the  spirit  of  a  devil.  Yet  it  was 
because  of  her  fierce  temper  and  lawless  looks  that  I  wanted 
her ;  indeed  she  was  the  best  of  my  "  hands,"  and  I  meant 
that  in  some  time  to  come  she  should  be  breeked  and  show 
the  way  aloft. 

So  I  talked  to  her  in  the  kindest  tones  I  could  assume. 
There  was  here  now  a  necessity  to  be  candid  ;  I  must  take  my 
chance  of  my  plans  reaching  the  forecastle.  I  said  bluntly  I 
intended  to  work  the  ship  to  Sydney  with  the  aid  of  the  women 
after  the  crew  had  left  her.  I  told  her  what  might  happen  if 
we  shipped  strangers  out  of  those  South  Seas — spun  yarns  of 
crimes  committed  by  seamen  in  the  islands,  in  the  Caroline 
and  Fiji  groups  particularly,  and  presently  had  the  satis- 
faction of  finding  her  listening  with  her  mouth  open,  and 
her  breathing  quick  as  though  she  was  reading  an  exciting 
story. 

Brigstock  came  into  the  cuddy  and  passed  us  to  enter  his 
cabin.  He  looked  at  us  with  an  air  of  gloomy  surprise.  I 
brought  the  girl  to  the  other  side  of  the  table  and  proceeded 
to  reason  with  her  in  a  sunk  voice.  The  women  on  the  quarter- 
deck glanced  in  as  they  passed  the  door.  Once  a  group  came 
to  a  stand  on  the  threshold  ;  they  were  of  that  lot  of  my  party 
of  girls  whom  Alice  Perry  had  talked  into  keeping  away  ;  I 
motioned  them  off,  and  they  went  away  arm  in  arm,  one  strik- 
ing up  "  Hever  of  Thee  !  "  and  the  rest  joining  in. 

"  Miss  Alice,"  said  I  softly  and  coaxingly  to  this  hand- 
some young  devil  of  a  housemaid,  for  that  was  her  walk,  I 
recollect,  "  I  cannot  do  without  you.  You  are  the  daisy  of  my 
company.  I'll  put  you  into  a  man's  clothes  when  the  men  are 
gone — a  sweet  sailor  you'll  make  ;  when  we  get  to  Sydney 
they'll  print  your  likeness  in  the  papers.  You  know  you're 
handsome." 

At  this  she  laughed.     What  white  teeth  it  has  !  thought  I. 

"  You're  handsome  now,  and  when  we  cast  anchor  in 
Sydney  Bay  you'll  have  been  brave.  Beauty  and  courage  in 
a  woman  out  in  the  colonies  are  thought  more  off  than  a  for- 


194  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

tune  in  England.  I  shall  be  dancing  at  your  wedding,  my 
dear,  though  I  may  not  be  two  months  in  Australia." 

"  Garn  !  "  she  exclaimed,  trying  to  hold  her  face,  but  her 
eyes  were  filled  with  delight.  Gratification  was  too  strong, 
and  she  burst  into  another  laugh. 

"Aint  he  amusing  her  just !"  said  a  woman  looking  in  at 
one  of  the  windows. 

I  continued  to  flatter  her  a  while  longer,  finding  she  liked 
it ;  then  guessing  I  had  talked  enough,  I  took  her  on  to  the 
quarter-deck  and  left  her. 

The  weather  that  night  was  wonderfully  quiet.  The  wind 
had  shifted,  and  blew  abeam.  When  I  was  on  deck  at  two 
bells,  nine  o'clock,  the  gloom  was  deepened  by  a  sort  of 
vaporish  thickness,  and  the  stars  were  so  few  you  could  have 
counted  them.  I  found  Brigstock  conversing  with  three  of 
the  seamen  at  the  head  of  the  poop  ladder.  They  did  not 
suspect  my  presence,  but  their  voices  were  pitched  in  a  low, 
growling  key,  as  though  they  were  anxious  not  to  be  over- 
heard. On  perceiving  me  the  men  slunk  down  the  ladder, 
and  Brigstock  went  to  leeward  and  walked  aft,  mute  as  a 
figurehead. 

I  made  nothing  of  this,  merely  supposing  that  they  had  been 
talking  over  their  island  scheme. 

All  the  women  were  under  hatches.  The  decks  were  silent 
and  deserted  to  the  sight.  No  sheen  of  light  was  visible 
anywhere  except  in  the  skylight,  under  which  the  cabin  lamp 
was  burning.  The  ship  floated  through  the  stillness  and  the 
darkness  of  the  sea  in  a  bulk  of  defined  hard  shadow,  like  the 
base  of  a  hill  upon  whose  sides  and  shoulders  at  midnight  a 
white  mist  sleeps.  Brigstock  remained  standing  beside  the 
man  at  the  helm.  They  both  talked,  but  in  very  low  voices. 
I  considered  this  conversation  with  the  helmsman  a  piece  of 
insolent  behavior  in  Brigstock,  seeing  that  I  was  on  deck,  but 
always  when  it  came  to  any  passion  like  resentment  in  me 
I  felt  the  underlying  mockery  of  my  situation,  and  was 
silent. 

The  helmsman  was  Isaac  Coffin  ;  I  knew  him  by  his  voice. 
I  paced  quietly,  with  one  of  Captain  Halcrow's  cigars  in  my 
mouth,  and  abandoned  myself  to  twenty  pleasing  dreams  of 
the  future.  My  thoughts  ran  swiftly  ;  they  went  to  the  Hebe 
and  to  the  Caroline,  and  back  again  to  Blathford,  and  my 
summer  rambles  with  Kate,  then,  with  greater  velocity  than 
light,  ahead  to  Sydney,  where  I  realized  this  ship's  arrival,  and 
smiled  at  the  vision  of  a  crew  of  women  in  the  male  duds  of 
the  vessel's  slop  chests. 


THE    WOMEN'S  PLOT.  195 

While  I  was  thus  thinking,  nothing  disturbing  the  stillness 
but  the  subdued  growling  of  the  voices  at  the  wheel,  and  a 
dim  noise  of  passing  waters,  like  to  the  sound  of  autumn 
leaves  gently  rustling  over  a  gravel  path,  I  heard  a  most 
extraordinary  moaning  high  up  in  the  air.  I  stopped  thunder- 
struck and  looked  straight  up,  where  a  pallid  star  was  trem- 
bling, as  though  I  expected  to  behold  a  flight  of  shadowy 
spirits  over  our  masthead.  To  this  moment  I  don't  know 
what  that  noise  was,  unless,  indeed,  it  was  some  mighty  pro- 
cession of  sea  fowl  very  high  in  air,  and  raising  cries  that 
they  might  keep  together. 

A  more  melancholy  sighing  note  never  sounded  through  the 
hush  of  ocean.  It  was  faint  and  female  in  tone,  a  strange, 
long-drawn  wailing.  It  died  out  slowly,  as  the  sound  of  a 
railway  train  dies  along  a  valley  on  a  quiet  night. 

"  Good  God  !  Isaac,  what  was  it  ?  "  exclaimed  Brigstock. 

I  went  aft  and  exclaimed,  "  Did  you  ever  hear  the  like  of 
that  noise  before  ?  " 

"  Sort  o'  prophecy,  I  allow,"  said  Coffin. 

"  Of  what  ?  " 

"  Of  trouble — of  trouble,"  grumbled  Brigstock  in  a  gruff, 
quarrelsome  voice  ;  and  clearly  wishing  not  to  converse  with 
me,  he  rolled  away  forward  and  vanished  off  the  poop. 

I  ascribed  the  man's  manner  to  some  irrational  fit  of  ill 
temper,  such  as  frequently  visits  seamen.  Sailors  are  fed  on 
food  in  the  last  degree  indigestible  ;  the  influence  of  the  liver 
upon  the  brain  is  among  those  things  which  make  us  know 
how  fearfully  and  wonderfully  we  are  made  ;  a  sailor's  curses, 
maledictions,  and  blasphemies  are  scarcely  more  than  a  fore- 
castle reproduction  or  expression  of  beef  and  pork  salted  into 
an  innutritions  hardness  maddening  to  soul  and  body.  I 
considered  Brigstock's  digestion  as  upset,  and  resumed  my 
walk  after  a  glance  at  the  compass  card. 

Presently  I  heard  voices  forward.  I  could  not  distinguish 
accents  nor  shapes,  but  judged  by  the  grumbling  that  more 
than  the  watch  were  talking  together  ;  certainly  Brigstock 
was  one  of  the  speakers.  I  would  not  seem  to  listen  by  paus- 
ing, but  now  a  sudden  anxiety  fell  upon  me  ;  I  did  not  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  that  black,  secret  council,  and  every 
time  I  approached  the  break  of  the  poop  I  suspended  my 
breathing  and  bent  my  ear  most  strenuously,  but  never  once 
caught  a  syllable. 

On  a  sudden  a  light  glimmered  in  the  black  oblong  of  the 
main  hatch,  down  which  the  leg  of  the  windsail  was  working 
as  though  some  gigantic  white  serpent  were  making  its  way 


196  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

out  of  the  'tween  decks  toward  the  mainmast  head.  The  figure 
of  a  woman  holding  a  lantern  came  up  ;  she  approached  the 
post  of  the  poop  ladder,  at  the  head  of  which  I  was  now 
standing.  The  light  she  held  revealed  her  ;  it  was  Miss 
Cobbs.  I  instantly  called  to  know  what  she  wanted.  She 
answered  in  tones  of  horror  and  agitation  : 

"  One  of  the  women,  Mary  Lonney,  has  cut  her  throat." 

I  flung  my  cigar  away,  and  ran  down  the  ladder  exclaiming, 
"  Is  she  dead?" 

As  I  said  this  the  men  who  had  been  talking  forward  came 
aft  in  a  hurried  tread,  full  of  alarm  ;  it  was  that  sort  of  rush 
of  feet  you'll  hear  at  sea  when  an  order  whose  instant  execu- 
tion means  life  or  death  is  shouted  out. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  shouted  Brigstock  ;  and  in  a  trice  seven  or 
eight  seamen  were  all  about  Miss  Cobbs,  their  forms  thrown 
up  by  the  light  she  held. 

"  O  Thomas  !  "  cried  the  matron,  "  one  of  the  women's  cut 
her  throat." 

"  That'll  be  the  meaning  of  the  noise  in  the  air  just  now," 
said  a  voice. 

I  saw  a  huddle  of  figures,  seemingly  in  their  bedclothes, 
like  a  pale  cloud  on  the  white  steps  of  the  main  hatch. 

"  Lead  me  to  the  woman,  Miss  Cobbs,"  said  I. 

"Mr.  Morgan,"  exclaimed  Brigstock,  thrusting  up  close  and 
defiantly,  and  speaking  fiercely  with  passion,  though  slowly, 
"you're  unfaithful  to  your  trust,  and  a  villain,  and  we  dorn't 
mean  to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  you." 

I  sprang  back  a  step  with  my  blood  on  fire,  and  clenching 
my  fists,  and  throwing  myself  into  a  posture  of  defense,  I 
cried  :  "  Villain,  is  it  ?  You  dog  !  " 

Even  as  I  spoke  I  was  seized  by  four  men — they  and  the 
others  of  them  letting  fly,  all  together,  fifty  yells  and  shouts 
of  abuse,  reproach,  insult,  curses — and  as  helpless  as  though 
heavily  ironed,  I  was  rushed  into  the  cuddy,  and  tumbled 
headlong  into  my  cabin. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

IMPRISONED. 

THEY  flung  me  into  the  cabin  with  so  much  violence  that  I 
was,  in  a  manner,  stunned.  I  fell  upon  my  knees,  but  got  up  in 
a  moment,  and  stood  with  my  hand  upon  the  edge  of  the  bunk 
while  I  fetched  my  breath  and  collected  myself. 


IMPRISONED.  197 

The  cabin  was  pitch  dark.  After  my  panting  had  sobered 
into  measured  breathing,  I  groped  for  a  match  and  lighted  the 
cabin  lamp  and  observing  blood  on  my  hand,  looked  in  the 
glass  and  beheld  the  skin  over  my  left  eyebrow  broken  and 
the  wound  bleeding.  The  injury  was  trifling.  I  bathed  it, 
and  the  cold  water  was  as  helpful  as  a  tonic  draught. 

Twice  now  had  I  been  locked  up  in  this  cabin.  What  did 
Brigstock  intend  ?  What  did  he  imagine  he  had  discovered 
against  me  ?  My  heart  raged  when  I  thought  of  how  I  had 
been  used  and  addressed  ;  how  I  had  been  called  villain, 
sworn,  at,  dragged  with  curses  to  this  cabin,  like  a  savage, 
dangerous  dog  to  its  chain  and  kennel.  What  had  I  done  ? 
Not  being  able  to  answer  that,  I  thought  :  What's  the  fresh 
scheme  the  men  have  in  their  heads  ?  I  tried  to  recall  any 
piece  of  behavior,  any  sentence  or  look  in  Brigstock  or  the 
others,  to  give  me  a  hint.  Had  they  abandoned  their  resolu- 
tion to  settle  an  island  ?  If  so,  they  had  forced  their  new 
humor  with  amazing  swiftness  upon  Brigstock,  who  certainly, 
down  to  a  recent  hour,  was  as  much  in  earnest  in  his  South 
Sea  project  as  ever  I  had  found  him. 

They  were  without  a  navigator.     What  would  they  do  ? 

As  realization  of  the  significancy  of  the  men's  treatment  of 
me  grew  my  wits  seemed  to  leave  me.  I  paced  the  cabin 
with  my  soul  racked  with  rage.  My  splendid  dream  of  pre- 
serving and  carrying  this  ship  into  safety  was  ended  !  The 
trouble  I  had  taken  in  training  the  women  was  wasted  toil, 
made  useless  in  a  few  minutes,  as  one  might  say.  I  felt  ill,  as 
though  fever  stricken.  It  was  not  only  the  insult,  the  alley- 
bully  usage  of  me,  the  disappointment ;  mingled  with  the 
violent  sensations  of  that  time  was  the  shock  of  the  news 
Miss  Cobbs  had  given.  Even  at  the  very  moment  of  hearing 
that  a  woman  had  cut  her  throat  I  was  called  villain,  brutally 
laid  hold  of,  flung  like  a  slaughtered  beast  into  this  cabin, 
and  locked  up. 

Some  brandy  was  in  the  locker,  and  cold  water  in  a  brack- 
eted decanter.  I  mixed  a  drink,  and  sat  down  to  think  and 
listen.  All  was  silent  in  the  cuddy  ;  overhead  sounded  occa- 
sionally the  creaking  of  a  pair  of  boots.  Sometimes  I  seemed 
to  hear  faintly  a  sound  of  men's  and  women's  voices.  I 
sought  to  hearten  myself  by  thinking  that  the  crew  could  not 
do  without  me,  but  I  found  no  hope  in  that  reflection  when  I 
recollected  Brigstock's  insult  and  the  men's  behavior. 

The  hours  rolled  by.  If  anyone  entered  the  cuddy  I  did 
not  hear  him.  All  my  speculations  now  ran  in  the  direction 
of  the  crew's  intentions.  I  heard  no  bells,  and  was  without  a 


198  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

watch.  Though  sleepless  with  feverish  excitement,  I  stretched 
myself  along  in  my  bunk,  where  I  lay  with  my  head  full  of 
burning  thoughts. 

I  slept  at  last  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  when  I  awoke  the 
day  had  broken.  I  glanced  through  the  porthole  and  found 
the  weather  gloomy  and  thick,  a  look  of  fine  drizzling  rain  in 
the  atmosphere,  the  wind  a  light  breeze  abeam,  and  a  slug- 
gish lift  of  gray  swell  out  of  the  south.  We  were  in  motion  ; 
I  marked  the  passage  o£  a  patch  of  froth,  and  the  speed  was 
about  four. 

Where  were  the  crew  heading  the  vessel,  and  what  did  they 
mean  to  do  with  her  ?  My  short  spell  of  rest  had  done  me 
good  ;  I  could  think  without  passion,  but  heavy  anxiety 
weighed  upon  my  spirits. 

It  might  have  been  about  eight  o'clock  when  the  key  was 
turned,  and  Gouger  stepped  in  with  some  breakfast.  He  put 
the  tray  rudely  down  on  the  deck  with  a  scowl  on  his  face,  and 
went  out,  heeding  me  no  more  than  had  the  cabin  been  empty, 
though  he  took  care  to  lock  the  door.  The  tray  was  heaped 
with  the  usual  stuff — a  cup  of  black  tea,  biscuit,  preserved 
meat,  a  piece  of  cold  pork  ;  they  did  not  mean  to  starve  me. 
I  was  somewhat  cheered  by  the  sight  of  this  food,  and  ate 
with  tolerable  appetite. 

While  breakfasting  I  heard  voices  in  the  cuddy  ;  I  arrested 
the  movements  of  my  jaws  to  listen  ;  Brigstock's  and  Hard- 
ing's  voices  were  easily  distinguishable  ;  I  also  thought  I  could 
distinguish  Miss  Cobbs'  high  notes,  and  there  was  a  fourth, 
one  of  the  seaman,  probably  Jackson.  The  bulkheads  were 
thick  and  the  conversation  hard  to  catch.  I  heard  Brigstock 
say,  "  The  course  is  right.  She  can't  hurt  as  she  goes.  Some- 
thing's bound  to  be  coming  along  soon." 

"  It's  a  pity,"  said  Miss  Cobbs,  "  that  he  should  have  proved 
such  a  treacherous  wretch.  All  was  going  on  so  well." 

Harding  said  something  in  his  deep,  sour  voice.  Brigstock 
exclaimed,  "  Aye,  aye,  I  should  have  thought  he'd  got  more 
sense."  The  voices  then  sank  and  presently  ceased. 

What  was  the  treachery  I  was  suspected  of  ?  Brigstock's 
remark  that  something  was  bound  to  come  along  soon  was  the 
same  as  saying  that  they  were  on  the  lookout  for  a  new  navi- 
gator. How  would  they  dispose  of  me  ?  I  asked  of  God  that 
I  might  not  be  inhumanly  used.  I  had  already  since  sailing 
from  Bristol  suffered  so  much,  experienced  such  quick  and 
rapid  changes,  that  a  few  weeks  had  compassed  more  for  me 
than  is  endured  by  men  in  half  a  century  of  seafaring.  The 
idea  of  having  to  forfeit  this  ship,  whose  preservation  had 


IMPRISONED.  199 

been  the  glowing  star  of  my  future,  was  an  anguish  of  disap- 
pointment. What  would  Kate  and  the  rest  of  the  women  who 
were  not  partners  think  ?  Lord,  thought  I,  if  that  devil- 
possessed  girl  Alice  Perry  would  but  work  out  her  plot  now ! 
Will  it  enter  Kate's  head  to  advise  her  and  the  others  to  clap 
the  hatches  on  such  men  as  might  be  below  at  the  time,  and 
secure  the  rest  by  the  strength  and  passion  of  numbers  ? 
Suppose  six  of  them  trapped  ;  it  might  not  be  hard  to  im- 
prison the  other  six  by  stratagems,  by  calling  one  here  and 
another  there,  thus  separating  them,  then  by  the  women  fling- 
ing .themselves  upon  the  fellows. 

The  morning  slipped  away  ;  nobody  came  to  my  cabin. 
I  was  sensible  of  a  silence  hanging  upon  the  ship  ;  the  quiet 
was  not  due  to  my  being  in  a  part  of  her  where  all  noises  from 
the  deck  reached  me  dimly,  whence  I  suspected  that  the  men 
were  keeping  a  large  portion  of  the  women  at  a  time  below, 
fearing  trouble.  Or  was  it  the  influence  and  awe  of  death 
upon  the  ship  that  held  her  hushed  ?  The  shock  of  suicide 
would  be  violent  throughout  those  'tween  decks  of  women. 
By  this  time,  too,  they  had  doubtless  buried  the  body,  and  the 
gloom  of  that  business  would  be  upon  the  spirits  of  the  peo- 
ple, who'd  also  be  restless  and  frightened,  wild  in  their 
whispers  and  looks  to  the  degree  of  making  the  sailors  afraid 
of  them,  and  of  keeping  half  of  them  under,  on  learning 
that  I  was  a  prisoner,  and  the  ship  without  a  navigator.  • 

At  about  one  the  young  seaman  Gouger  brought  me  my 
dinner.  I  addressed  him,  but  he  neither  answered  nor  looked 
at  me.  He  had  clearly  received  his  instructions,  and  went 
out  with  rude  defiant  motions  of  his  body,  locking  the  door 
noisily  after  him. 

The  afternoon  passed  ;  a  second  night  came.  There  was 
oil  in  my  berth.  I  trimmed  and  lighted  the  lamp,  and  tried  to 
divert  my  mind  by  reading  a  volume  of  tales  I  took  from  the 
shelf,  but  could  not  fix  my  attention.  I  lighted  a  cigar  and 
smoked  in  my  bunk  with  my  legs  over  the  edge,  lost  in  gloomy, 
anxious  thoughts.  I  had  expected  a  visit  from  Brigstock,  and 
found  something  sinister  in  his  absence.  Of  what  was  I 
guilty  ?  Why  did  not  the  fellow  come  down  into  my  cabin  and 
charge  me,  and  hear  me,  and  give  me  a  chance  to  prove  I  had 
been  and  still  was  loyal  to  the  office  the  crew  had  tricked  me 
into  accepting  ? 

I  was  a  bit  unmanned  by  my  confinement,  by  the  suspense 
I  was  kept  in,  by  a  passion  of  disappointment  fiery  and  wast- 
ing. I  had  slept  but  little.  This  night  I  did  not  close  my 
eyes.  I  started  at  every  sound,  and  once,  hearing  a  footstep 


200  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

in  the  cuddy  just  outside  my  door,  I  sprang  from  my  bunk 
and  seized  a  dinner  knife  from  the  supper  tray,  intending  if 
I  was  to  be  dealt  with  like  a  rat  in  a  hole  the  business  should 
be  hot  and  bloody  for  more  than  one. 

All  these  fears  my  secret  instincts  pronounced  irrational. 
But  frightened  I  was,  nevertheless,  and  I  lay  sleepless,  every 
sound  making  my  heart  loud  in  my  ears. 

Throughout  the  night  the  weather  was  quiet,  but  thick. 
The  breeze  blew  damp  and  chill  through  my  open  porthole, 
the  bleaker,  perhaps,  for  the  melancholy  noises  of  the  sea  as  it 
washed  to  the  bends,  falling  away  in  a  low  moaning  charged 
with  a  snakish,  stealthy  hissing.  I  kept  the  lamp  alight,  and 
frequently  glanced  at  the  compass,  and  observed  that  they 
kept  the  ship  sailing  along  the  course  I  had  left  her  heading. 

Daybreak  found  me  with  my  face  at  the  porthole,  gazing  at 
the  disk  of  ocean  the  sea  window  framed.  I  watched  the 
green  of  the  east  sifting  westward.  The  shape  of  the  near 
surge  grew  defined,  and  the  horizon  ran  hard  and  black  as 
the  rim  of  an  ebony  table  against  the  pale  heavens.  The 
weather  had  cleared,  but  in  as  much  of  the  heavens  as  I  could 
command  I  saw  the  shadows  of  squall  clouds,  and  a  promise 
of  wet  in  long  streaks  of  liquid  gray  vapor  hanging  low  over 
the  western  sea  line. 

The  sun  had  scarcely  risen  when  there  was  a  commotion 
overhead.  They  were  trimming  sail,  I  thought.  Coils  of 
rope  were  flung  down.  The  hoarse  notes  of  seamen  singing 
out  reached  me,  and  I  guessed  by  the  confused  shuffling  of 
feet  that  the  main  brace  was  stretched  along.  The  wind  had 
been  somewhat  abaft  the  beam.  Presently  the  compass  showed 
that  the  helm  had  been  shifted  so  as  to  bring  the  breeze  a 
couple  of  points  more  forward.  The  rolling  of  the  ship 
wanted  the  bouyancy  of  the  propelled  hull,  and  on  taking 
another  glance  through  the  porthole  I  saw  that  the  vessel  had 
been  brought  to  a  stand. 

An  hour  passed,  during  which  all  was  quiet.  Not  a  sound  of 
any  sort  was  there  save  the  slopping  of  water  under  the  port- 
hole. The  sea  was  of  a  sallow  blue.  A  small  squall  of  rain 
veiled  the  horizon  with  a  slanting  gray  mist  right  abreast  of 
me.  A  rainbow  was  flickering  upon  the  delicate  crystal  dust. 
While  I  watched  this  squall  its  skirts  thinned  to  the  south- 
ward and  exposed  the  canvas  of  a  vessel,  bright  as  polished 
resplendent  steel  in  the  moist  flash  of  sun  it  caught  as  the 
weeping  shadow  left  it. 

While  I  looked,  easily  conceiving  the  trick  Brigstock  was 
going  to  play,  Gouger  unlocked  the  door  and  entered  with  my 


IMPRISONED.  20 1 

breakfast.  I  glanced  over  my  shoulder,  then  went  on  watch- 
ing the  distant  vessel.  He  put  the  tray  down  as  before,  and 
went  out  without  speaking  a  word.  I  often  recall,  but  not  with 
wonder,  the  effect  of  that  young  brute's  silence  upon  me.  The 
part  of  the  new  tragic  passage  hardest  to  bear  was  the  dumb 
entrance  of  that  dog  with  my  meals.  His  behavior  deepened 
suspense  ;  it  was  a  sort  of  mute  black  hint  of  what  I  was  to 
expect ;  and  then,  again,  there  was  the  irritation  of  its  in- 
solence. 

The  sail  speedily  slided  out  of  the  sphere  of  the  porthole. 
Not  being  able  to  see,  I  strained  my  hearing,  wondering 
whether  she  would  pass  within  hail,  if  she  would  stop  to  speak 
us,  if  she  would  send  a  boat,  and  be  tricked  as  the  Caroline 
had  been. 

Another  long  hour  passed  ;  the  breeze  was  steady,  with  an 
occasional  rush  of  rain  squall  through  it  ;  westward  the 
liquid  gray  streaks  had  risen,  and  the  horizon  was  vague.  On 
a  sudden,  whether  owing  to  a  shift  of  our  helm,  the  sail  came 
sliding  fair  into  the  round  frame  of  the  port.  She  was  a  large 
three-masted  schooner,  scarcely  less  than  three  hundred  tons 
in  burden,  with  immensely  lofty,  whip-like  masts.  The  red 
flag  of  the  English  merchant  service  was  flying  at  her  mizzen- 
mast  head.  She  lay  all  shaking  within  hailing  distance,  bow- 
ing the  sea  with  wet  flashes  of  streaming  sheathing  ;  her 
shivering  sails  stood  out  in  a  dead  sickly  white  against  the 
pouring  gray  background  afar.  Several  men  were  looking  at 
our  ship  over  her  forecastle  rail  ;  as  she  leaned  her  white  decks 
toward  us  on  the  heave  of  the  swell  her  little  brass-bound 
wheel  glowed  like  a  circle  of  golden  light  in  the  grasp  of  the 
man  at  it  ;  close  beside  the  helm  stood  a  tall  figure  in  the  hat 
of  a  bandit  and  a  short  monkey  jacket.  I  saw  him  step  to  the 
rail,  and  his  cry  came  faintly  along  to  my  ears,  but  in  the  open 
above  it  doubtless  sounded  clear  as  a  bell,  for  a  voice  I  in- 
stantly recognized  as  Brigstock's  bawled  out  : 

"The  Earl  of  Leicester,  from  Madras  for  the  River 
Thames." 

Another  question  in  a  dim  hallooing  note  came  along  on  the 
light  breeze  from  the  schooner.  Brigstock  answered  : 

"We're  in  great  distress.  All  'ands  have  perished  but  us 
two.  We  can't  board  jer.  My  mate  here's  too  ill  to  take  a 
hoar." 

This  man's  ambition,  thought  I,  is  to  be  the  father  of  a 
South  Sea  settlement  whose  government  is  to  be  based  on 
Truth  first  of  all. 

I  did  not  need  to  go  on  deck  to  see  the  picture.     I  figured 


202  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

one  of  the  men  at  the  wheel  in  a  drooping  posture,  as  though 
faint ;  Brigstock  with  long  forlorn  countenance  in  an  attitude 
of  entreaty  ;  the  decks  empty  as  when  Blades  and  I  were  the 
victims  of  the  dodge.  The  emigrants,  of  course,  were  under 
hatches.  Doubtless  the  main  hatch  had  been  closed  while  they 
were  at  breakfast ;  otherwise  the  women,  guessing  why  they 
were  to  be  sent  below,  through  knowing  I  was  locked  up  and 
through  seeing  the  approaching  vessel — recollecting  also  the 
spell  of  suffocation  they  had  undergone  while  I  was  being 
maneuvered  into  the  ship — might  have  given  the  men  so  much 
trouble  as  to  kill  this  opportunity  of  tricking  a  navigator  into 
the  vessel. 

One  or  two  more  cries  came  from  the  schooner.  By  this 
time  she  had  drifted  out  of  the  porthole,  nor  did  Brigstock's 
answers  distinctly  reach  me,  owing  to  his  having  shifted  his 
station,  which  had  been  exactly  over  my  head.  Now  by  the 
silence  that  fell  I  guessed  the  stranger  was  sending  a  boat. 
My  heart  beat  hard.  What  did  the  fellows  intend  to  do  with 
me  ?  Presently  I  heard  the  muffled  chafing  of  oars  in  row- 
locks and  the  noise  of  the  shearing  of  a  boat's  sharp  stem 
driving  close  on  our  quarter  to  pass  under  the  counter.  The 
suspense  was  horrible,  my  impatience  maddening.  After  a 
little  voices  rumbled  in  the  cuddy,  whence  I  gathered  that 
some  of  the  men  had  softly  stolen  into  that  interior  unheard 
by  me  to  give  the  newcomer  from  the  schooner  the  sort  of 
greeting  I  had  received  ;  in  other  words,  to  overawe  him  with 
the  sight  of  their  numbers.  A  minute  after  a  hoarse  voice 
bawled  out : 

"  I'll  be  damned  if  you  do  !  Fire  me  if  this  han't  worse 
than  being  shanghaied  !  " 

This  was  followed  by  a  roaring  out  of  curses  all  in  the  same 
voice  ;  the  seamen  present  joined  in,  and  such  a  hellish  hul- 
labaloo followed  that  I  held  my  breath,  expecting  to  hear  cries 
of  murder  and  groans.  It  seemed  as  if  more  than  one  of  the 
schooner's  men  had  come  below,  but  I  was  mistaken.  A  pro- 
digious noise  of  scuffling  arose.  The  seamen  appeared  to 
have  found  their  match.  Blasphemies  flew  thick  as  hail  in  an 
electric  squall ;  surging  figures  bumped  with  volcanic  shocks 
against  the  bulkheads. 

"  Why  don't  yer  take  it  quietly  ?  "  Brigstock  bellowed. 

But  though  the  heroic  victim  had  been  a  giant  he  must  have 
been  still  too  few  as  one  man  for  the  number  who  had  fallen 
upon  him.  Yet  I  reckoned  it  took  them  a  full  five  minutes  of 
heaving,  wrestling,  struggling,  cursing,  to  get  the  fellow  stowed 
in  a  cabin,  where  he  pounded  so  furiously  with  boots  and  fists, 


IMPRISONED.  203 

shouting  all  the  while  with  hurricane  lungs  to  be  let  out,  that 
I  expected  to  hear  him  burst  clean  through  the  massive  bulk- 
head. 

Hope  had  freshened  in  me  while  the  uproar  outside  was 
going  on.  I  thought  to  myself,  the  crew  are  not  likely  to 
depend  upon  such  services  as  they  must  expect  from  the  man 
they  have  brutally  maltreated  and  locked  up.  They'll  look  to 
me  again,  and  give  me  a  chance  of  hearing  what  I  am  suspected 
of.  But  even  while  I  thus  thought,  the  key  in  my  door  was 
turned,  the  door  itself  rudely  flung  open,  and  Brigstock  and 
two  others,  Hull  and  Luddy,  appeared. 

"  Put  on  your  cap  and  follow  us,"  said  Brigstock,  breathing 
short  after  the  recent  struggle,  and  discovering  marks  upon 
his  face,  and  in  his  collar  and  cravat,  of  having  been  roughly 
handled  ;  "  we  don't  want  to  lose  no  time." 

Here  the  prisoner  in  the  berth  opposite  fell  to  kicking  and 
pounding  afresh  with  extraordinary  violence,  bawling  that 
he'd  cut  the  livers  out  of  the  whole  ship's  company  when  he 
got  at  them,  and  swearing  diabolically  as  he  vociferated  the 
threat. 

"What  have  I  done  to  merit  this  treatment?"  I  asked. 

"  You  know,"  answered  Brigstock  with  an  ugly  scowl. 
"  Come  on." 

The  fellows  beside  him  eyed  me  with  the  utmost  malevo- 
lence, and  there  was  a  black  threat  in  every  posture  and  ges- 
ture of  theirs,  even  in  those  few  moments  of  pause.  Luddy's 
lip  was  cut  ;  his  chin  was  covered  with  blood.  All  three  were 
in  a  dangerous  temper.  I  knew  myself  to  be  white  in  the 
face,  and  was  sick  with  the  swift  pulsing  of  my  heart.  Con- 
sider !  I  had  been  locked  up  for  many  hours,  in  a  continual 
state  of  wearing,  desperate  suspense,  and  now  here  were  these 
fellows  commanding  me  to  follow  them — to  be  how  dealt  with  ? 
Yet  though  I  could  not  control  my  color,  I  had  my  agitation 
well  in  grasp.  I  put  my  hat  on,  buttoned  my  jacket,  and  fol- 
lowed Brigstock  up  the  companion  steps,  Luddy  following  at 
my  heels,  the  other  remaining  below,  possibly  to  watch  beside 
the  entrapped  man's  door. 

All  to  windward  was  gray  with  wet,  and  a  thin  drizzle,  but 
not  of  a  concealing  sort,  was  driving  along  with  the  wind, 
which  had  freshened  a  trifle.  None  of  the  women  were  to  be 
seen  ;  but  though  the  gratings  were  on  the  main  hatch,  no 
tarpaulins  hid  them.  The  fore  and  after  yards  had  been 
braced  to  give  the  vessel  a  distressed,  ill-conditioned  look. 
All  topgallant  hallyards  had  been  let  go,  the  mainsail  clumsily 
hauled  up,  and  the  main  topsail  laid  to  the  mast.  Still  the 


204  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

cunning  rogues  had  not  contrived  the  same  perfect  picture  of 
distress  which  had  greeted  Blades'  and  my  eyes. 

The  two  vessels  had  drifted  apart,  and  the  schooner  lay 
about  a  mile  distant,  on  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  quarter.  I 
took  in  all  that  I  am  telling  you  in  a  single  sweep  of  the  eye. 
No  time  for  a  longer  look  was  allowed  ;  Brigstock  ran  to  the 
lee  rail  and  sang  down,  "  Bring  your  boat  to  the  main  chains, 
and  put  this  gentleman  aboard  your  schooner." 

He  then  turned  quickly  upon  me,  and  with  a  fierceness  I 
should  never  have  suspected  in  so  formal,  solemn,  austere 
a  devil,  bawled,  "  Come,  jump  in,  and  thank  yer  God  that 
yer've  fallen  into  humane  hands !  "  by  which  I  understood  he 
meant  himself  and  the  crew. 

I  went  to  the  rail  without  a  word,  meaning  to  drop  into  the 
main  chains  and  so  gain  the  boat,  but  when  I  looked  over  I 
saw  that  she  was  holding  off,  with  the  three  men  in  her  star- 
ing like  madmen,  evidently  scenting  a  stratagem  from  the 
sight  of  the  several  seamen  whose  figures  were  clear  in  their 
view. 

"  Haul  in  and  take  this  man,"  said  Brigstock. 

"  Where's  our  second  mate  ? "  sung  out  the  fellow  in  the 
boat's  bows.  I  see  him  now,  a  dingy  blotch  of  face,  scarcely 
visible  for  hair,  surmounted  by  an  old  glazed  hat  without  a 
brim. 

"  He's  a-going  to  stop  along  with  us.  Haul  in,  I  tell  jer. 
This  gen'man  '11  explain  to  your  captain  when  jer  put  him 
aboard." 

"  Splain  what  ? "  roared  the  man  in  the  bow  of  the  boat. 

"  Haul  in,  I  tell  jer." 

,  "  We  thought  you  was  only  two  men  ? "  cried  another  of  the 
fellows  in  the  boat  in  loud,  bellowing  tones,  full  of  astonish- 
ment and  fear. 

As  though  operated  on  by  one  impulse,  hardly  had  this  man 
shouted  when  the  three  flopped  down  on  the  thwarts,  chucked 
their  oars  over,  and  pulled  away  for  the  schooner  with  all 
their  might. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

ADRIFT. 

BRIGSTOCK  stood  idly  looking  for  a  moment  or  two  at  the 
receding  boat.  He  then  shouted  out,  "  He  must  put  himself 
aboard.  Bill— Jupe— jump  aft  and  lower  away  the  gig. 
She'll  be  light  enough  for  him  to  handle." 


ADRIFT.  205 

Three  or  four  men  rushed  to  do  his  bidding.  The  gig  was 
the  long,  light,  slender  boat  that  hung  by  the  davits  outside, 
on  a  line  with  the  taffrail.  The  sea  ran  without  weight,  the 
ship  was  without  way  and  pitched  softly,  and  the  boat,  with 
two  men  in  her,  sank  securely  to  the  water's  surface,  where  the 
blocks  were  unhooked,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  had  got 
her  alongside,  close  against  the  lee  main  chains. 

Brigstock  standing  near  me  had  watched  these  proceedings 
in  silence.  At  the  moment  that  the  boat  was  lowered  I  cried 
in  a  sudden  passion  : 

"Mr.  Brigstock,  what  have  I  done  to  deserve  this  treat- 
ment ? " 

He  slowly  turned  his  face,  dark  with  temper,  and  said,  "  I 
called  you  villain,  and  a  villain  you  are.  Jer'd  have  be- 
trayed us  for  all  jer  fine  promises,  though  we  used  jer  as 
a  gen'man,  and  obeyed  jer  bidding,  and  gave  jer  the  cabin 
to  live  in." 

He  clenched  both  fists  and  literally  shook  with  temper. 

At  the  sound  of  our  voices  the  rest  of  the  crew,  who  were 
scattered  about  the  poop,  evidently  waiting  for  the  signal  to 
trim  sail,  gathered  about  us  with  looks  so  full  of  menace, 
mutiny,  murder,  that  I  instinctively  felt  if  I  did  not  quit  this 
ship  with  a  dumb  tongue,  a  few  minutes  might  find  me  a  slain 
man,  cut  to  the  heart  by  a  sheath  knife,  overboard,  to  plumb 
depths  whose  soundings  I  should  never  be  able  to  report. 
And  yet  a  madness  of  temper  urged  me  to  exclaim  : 

"  I'm  no  villain.  I  swear  by  my  God  I  was  serving  you 
faithfully  !  " 

"  What's  your  notion  of  faithfulness  ? "  roared  Harding, 
thrusting  his  bearded,  sour  face  in  a  butting  way  close  into 
mine.  "  Is  it  to  batten  men  down — men  you're  a-professing 
to  sarve,  for  to  carry  them  to  a  port,  and  then  give  'em  up,  yap 
to  pocket  all  the  swag,  and  all  the  good  as  is  to  come  along 
out  of  the  job  !  "  He  wagged  his  head  at  me  in  his  wrath. 

"  Leave  him  be  !  "  thundered  Brigstock,  putting  his  shoulder 
into  the  chest  of  the  man  Sampson,  and  heaving  him  halfway 
across  the  deck.  "  We've  done  so  far  without  that,  and  we 
want  none." 

"  On  deck  there,"  hailed  a  voice  from  the  boat  alongside. 

"  Over  with  jer  !  "  cried  Brigstock,  laying  a  heavy  hand 
upon  my  shoulder.  "  The  schooner  '11  pick  jer  up." 

I  shook  the  fellow's  paw  off,  giving  him  a  look  of  bitter 
reproach  and  hate,  and  half  crazy  with  disappointment,  humil- 
iation, the  sense  of  atrocious  injustice,  I  dropped  into  the 
main  chains  and  jumped  into  the  gig.  The  two  men  got  out 


206  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

of  the  boat  as  I  entered  her.  One  had  held  to  a  channel  plate 
by  a  boathook  ;  when  he  dropped  the  thing  and  jumped  out 
the  boat  was  adrift. 

There  seemed  an  angry  wobble  of  waters  ;  that  was  the 
sensation  of  her  short,  abrupt  jumps  to  me,  fresh  from  the 
comparative  terra  firma  of  the  ship's  deck.  I  stood,  thick  in 
head  and  blind  in  vision,  with  a  sort  of  stupefaction  of  brain, 
till  a  leap  of  the  boat  flung  me  on  to  a  thwart.  The  ^hock 
gave  me  my  mind.  Heavenly  God  !  thought  I,  if  I  don't 
make  for  the  schooner  I  shall  be  adrift  and  alone  !  Will  she 
receive  me  ?  And  now  I  was  possessed  by  a  wild  fear  for  my 
life,  an  unmanly  horror,  a  panic  terror.  Never  before  in  my 
life  had  my  nerves  so  betrayed  me. 

There  were  four  oars  in  the  boat,  and  a  small  mast  and  lug. 
sail.  She  was  the  captain's  gig,  and  a  smart  boat,  with  bright 
gratings,  and  brass  rowlocks,  dangling  by  sennit  lanyards.  I 
threw  her  oars  out,  and  got  her  head  round  on  a  line  with  the 
schooner.  The  swell  ran  with  a  lift  and  fall  of  fold  that  sunk 
the  boat  in  a  valley  and  poised  her  as  on  a  hill,  and  the  sur- 
face of  those  volumes  of  brine  snapped  and  hissed  with  little 
seas.  The  gig  went  clear  of  the  ship's  quarter,  and  when  out 
of  the  shadow  and  height  of  her — for  her  rolling  hull  and  tow- 
ering spaces  of  sail  blocked  the  sight  as  a  terrace  of  cliff 
might — I  found  it  was  raining,  no  longer  a  thin  drizzle,  but 
driving  lines  of  wet,  gray  everywhere,  and  in  places  thick  as 
smoke. 

The  schooner  hung  about  a  mile  to  windward,  swollen  and 
dim  in  the  smother.  She  came  and  went,  and  went  and  came, 
regularly  as  a  clock  ticks,  as  the  swell  swallowed  or  hoisted 
me. 

On  board  the  ship  they  trimmed  sail  the  moment  I  had  gone 
clear.  The  breeze  was  a  beam  wind  for  her  course,  and  they 
braced  to  it,  boarding  the  main  tack  and  manning  the  main 
topgallant  halyards  as  smartly  as  twenty  men  might  ordinarily 
work  that  machinery  of  tackles.  The  fine  ship  felt  the  pres- 
sure promptly  ;  she  heeled  away  from  the  breeze,  and  as  her 
stern  came  dead  on  end,  with  a  moist  glitter  of  cabin  windows, 
and  a  hand  on  the  taffrail  getting  the  gig's  falls  inboard,  the 
white  water  leapt  from  her  bends,  and  the  foam  of  her  forming 
wake  boiled  about  her  rudder. 

When  I  saw  how  thick  the  weather  was.  and  how  the  shadow 
of  the  rain  was  still  blackening  into  the  atmosphere,  I  dropped 
the  oars  and  stood  up  in  the  boat,  and  sent  a  long  scream  of 
despair  at  the  figure  of  the  fellow  on  the  taffrail  of  the  depart- 
ing vessel,  but  I  question  if  he  heard  me,  I  doubt  if  he  saw 


ADRIFT.  207 

me.  A  few  ship's  lengths  would  carry  one's  eyes  into  blind- 
ness on  such  a  day  as  that.  Nay,  even  while  I  watched,  with" 
a  breaking  heart  and  the  chill  and  darkness  of  death  upon 
my  spirits,  the  ship  died  into  shadow  in  the  rain. 

The  gig  was  light  for  a  ship's  boat,  but  heavy  for  one  man 
to  pull.  The  schooner  was  dead  to  windward,  vague  as  a 
reflection  in  a  mirror  on  which  you  have  breathed,  and  all 
between  was  the  ridging  and  feathering  of  the  gray  seas,  more 
spiteful  than  the  wind  made  them  for  the  stubborn  heave  of 
the  swell  athwart  their  course.  I  soon  saw  I  should  be  able 
to  do  nothing  by  rowing ;  indeed  the  state  of  my  mind  had 
impaired  me  physically.  I  had  lost  my  strength.  I  threw  the 
oars  in,  and  stepped  the  mast,  but  the  boat  was  narrow  ;  it 
was  to  be  a  sheer  beat  to  windward,  and  the  lug  was  all  too 
big  for  that  dead-on-end  breeze  and  jump  of  waters.  So  I 
stretched  the  sail  along  and  tied  a  couple  of  reefs  in  it,  drift- 
ing away  to  leeward  meanwhile  like  the  shadow  of  a  bird 
floating  down  the  wind,  and  when  I  had  mastheaded  the  frag- 
ment of  canvas,  hauled  the  sheet  aft,  and  got  me  to  the  yoke- 
lines,  the  ship  was  gone  in  the  thickness,  and  away  on  the 
starboard  bow — heading  off,  perforce,  as  my  boat  was — I  beheld 
the  schooner  gathering  way,  and  slowly  forging  northward, 
with  her  white  sails  breaking  like  the  light  of  dawn  through  a 
sand-colored  squall  of  wet  she  was  in  the  heart  of. 

I  held  on  ;  my  seamanship  was  at  a  loss.  The  schooner, 
having  got  her  boat,  was  proceeding  on  her  voyage,  making 
the  best  of  a  business  her  people  could  only  wonder  at  and 
curse  as  a  stratagem  that  might  betray  them  into  bloody 
results  if  they  chased  with  the  idea  of  looking  further  into  it. 
That  I  was  seen  I  will  not  say ;  the  gleam  of  my  little  white 
sail  would  blend  with  the  sheeting  of  froth,  and  dance  unno- 
ticed in  the  thickness. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  Here  was  I  adrift  in  an  open  boat 
without  a  drop  of  water  to  drink,  without  a  crumb  of  biscuit  to 
eat.  The  mere  look  of  the  schooner,  dim  as  she  was,  with  her 
leaning  spars  and  forging  fore  foot  and  lofty  spread  of  canvas, 
was  such  a  hint  of  speed  when  the  full  power  of  the  breeze 
should  urge  her  that  my  immediate  intention  to  shift  the  helm 
and  follow  her  on  a  parallel  line,  with  a  prayer  for  the  weather 
to  clear,  that  I  might  be  seen,  fell  dead.  A  second  resolution 
seized  me.  I  slackened  away  the  sheet,  and  put  the  boat's 
head  for  the  ship,  which  was  out  of  sight,  but  whose  bearings 
I  judged  of  by  the  blowing  of  the  wind.  My  poor  miserable 
hope  was  that  if  the  weather  brightened  they'd  see  me  now 
my  sail  was  hoisted,  have  mercy,  and  receive  me  to  transship 


208  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

me  afterward  if  occasion  for  t/iat\vas  not  ended  by  my  coming 
to  a  good  understanding  with  them. 

I  tried  to  pierce  the  vaporous  thickness  of  rain.  The  swell 
ran  at  me  ;  each  time  I  rose  to  the  height  of  a  brow  that  was 
all  a-snarl  and  hissing  white  salt  under  the  shrill  thongs  of 
the  breeze  I'd  send  a  devouring  look  ahead,  and  sometimes 
fancy  I  saw  a  leaning  square  blotch  far  off.  But  the  smother 
would  close  down  again  upon  the  sea,  and  leave  me  a  view  of 
scarce  two  miles  of  cold,  dark  gray  waters,  running  jagged 
and  brokenly  over  the  folds  swelling  northward.  Yet  my  boat 
made  good  weather.  She  leapt  dryly,  and  ran  like  a  streak  of 
foam  up  the  liquid  acclivities,  and  fled  buoyant  as  a  running 
Mother  Carey's  fowl  down  into  the  hollows. 

I  was  sure  they  had  dispatched  me  to  board  the  schooner, 
if  I  could,  without  the  least  concern  as  to  whether  I  reached 
her  or  not.  The  sea  had  been  shrouded  when  I  left  the  ship. 
Brigstock  knew  it,  and  he  also  knew  as  a  seaman  that  it  was 
next  to  certain  I  should  miss  the  schooner  and  perish.  It  was 
like  murdering  me.  What,  then,  on  a  sudden  had  made  fiends 
of  men  whom  I  had  found  or  fancied  respectable,  steady 
sailors,  able  to  practice,  not  moderation,  but  abstinence,  the 
hardest  of  all  virtues,  whether  on  sea  or  land  ? 

I  understood  the  reason,  and  cursed  my  folly.  They  had 
got  scent  of  the  plot  my  company  of  women  had  hatched  and 
talked  to  me  about.  Had  not  Brigstock  savagely  said  as 
much  before  1  went  over  the  side  ?  There  had  been  misrepre- 
sentation ;  the  fellows  were  illiterate  sailors,  incapable  of 
distinguishing,  full  of  rough  passions  not  hard  to  influence 
into  criminal  impulses.  I  guessed  their  women  had  had  a 
hand  in  it  ;  they  had  gone  from  the  'tween  decks,  where  my 
own  party  of  females  had  been  talking,  and  told  the  men, 
exaggerating  their  report  into  lies  that  I  and  the  women  I 
was  making  sailors  of  were  concerting  a  plot  to  imprison 
Brigstock  and  the  crew  under  hatches.  That  would  be 
enough.  There  was  no  one  to  say  them  nay.  They'd  not 
have  taken  a  denial  from  me,  and  therefore  never  charged  me. 
The  wonder  is  they  did  not  cut  my  throat  or  hang  me. 

From  the  very  bottom  of  my  soul  rose  my  curses  on  my 
own  stupidity.  The  whole  thing  was  clear  now — made  clear 
by  Brigstocic's  parting  words.  Had  I  confessed  my  sole 
object  in  disciplining  the  women  they  never  would  have  sup- 
posed me  guilty  to  such  a  degree  as  not  to  challenge  and 
provide  me  with  a  chance  to  disprove  the  'tween  decks  lies. 

Thus  went  my  thoughts  as  the  boat  slipped  along.  My 
spirits  were  at  their  lowest  with  despair  ;  the  afternoon  was 


ADRIFT.  a<>9 

fast  going ;  the  thickness  had  a  settled  look  ;  there  was  no 
appearance  of  the  sky  clearing  before  the  night  fell.  The 
chase  was  a  hopeless  one  while  the  breeze  held,  for  the  object 
I  pursued  was  a  full-rigged  sailing  ship,  whose  speed  com- 
pared to  the  gig's  was  as  five  to  one,  and  there  would  be  no 
possibility  of  any  deliverance  by  her  unless  it  fell  calm,  and 
she  lay  in  sight,  and  I  could  use  my  oars.  I  was  wet  to  the 
skin,  but  too  seasoned  as  a  seaman  to  heed  that.  The  dread- 
fullest  part  was  my  being  without  food  or  drink  ;  nay,  not  so 
much  as  a  sup  of  spirits  to  give  me  an  instant's  heart.  And 
oh  !  the  devouring  rage  of  disappointment  when  I  thought  of 
Kate,  of  the  fine  ship,  of  what  I  had  lost,  of  the  base,  obscure 
death  that  seemed  at  hand — a  rat's  end  !  a  rat's  end  !  to  perish 
thus  under  the  weeping  blank  up  there  and  out  of  the  very 
sight  of  God  himself ! 

It  was  not  blowing  harder,  but  it  was  as  thick  as  ever  wifh 
wet  when  the  shadow  of  the  night  came  along.  I  lowered  the 
sail  to  make  a  house  of,  unstepped  the  mast,  and  frapped  it 
and  the  oars  into  a.sheaf  which  I  flung  overboard  for  a  sea 
anchor  to  ride  to — with  a  curse  as  I  did  so,  so  vile  a  savage 
was  I  then  with  despair  and  suffering.  I  was  parched  with 
thirst,  hating  life,  yet  felt  an  inward  shrinking  from  death. 
Pulling  the  sail  about  me,  I  lay  down  in  the  stern  sheets.  I'll 
not  recite  the  miseries  of  that  night ;  sufferings  as  great  have 
been  endured  by  men  adrift  and  in  open  boats  and  on  rafts, 
but  none  greater — no,  not  after  days  ;  no,  not  even  when  it  had 
come  to  the  eating  of  human  flesh. 

It  was  still  thick  at  daybreak,  with  a  heavy  swell,  always 
from  the  southward,  little  wind,  and  rain  in  places.  So  much 
had  fallen  in  the  night  that  I  got  a  draught  out  of  the  bottom 
of  the  boat.  I  knelt  down  and  sucked  it  up  like  a  horse.  It 
was  slightly  brackish  with  the  impregnation  of  the  timber  by 
brine,  but  sweet  as  a  draught  of  foaming  soda  water  to  my 
throat.  There  was  plenty,  but  no  vessel  to  hold  it,  and  it 
washed  about  under  the  thwarts  as  the  boat  tumbled. 

I  hauled  in  the  sea  anchor,  stepped  the  mast,  and  hoisted 
the  sail  with  both  reefs  out,  shaping  my  course  by  the  sulky 
redness  in  the  east.  My  course  !  By  which  I  mean  the  ship, 
for  she  was  probably  the  nearest  to  me  of  any  craft  in  those 
seas  then,  not,  perhaps,  thirty  miles  off,  to  be  sneaked  into 
sight  amid  light  baffling  airs  should  the  horizon  clear  and 
give  me  three  leagues  of  view  before  sundown. 

All  that  day  it  blew  a  light  northwesterly  wind.  The  sun 
showed  at  intervals,  but  the  most  part  of  the  sky  was  a  stretch 
of  heaped-up  vapor,  swelled  and  soft  and  moist,  like  wet 


210  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

smoke,  if  you  can  imagine  the  thing.  It  never  ceased  to  rain 
in  one  place  or  another,  and  sometimes  it  fell  in  a  living  sheet 
off  the  edge  of  a  cloud  right  overhead.  Thus  I  got  plenty  of 
water  to  drink.  The  swell  was  small,  and  sluggish  as  liquid 
lead  ;  the  boat  floated  languidly  forward  ;  I  kept  my  sail 
aloft  for  the  sake  of  the  gleam  of  it  against  the  confused  sooty 
background,  which  must  throw  it  out  sharp  as  a  light  to  any 
eye  on  the  sea  line  ;  but  nothing  showed  all  day  long.  In- 
deed there  was  scarce  wind  enough  to  heave  anything  into 
view. 

I  did  not  suffer  much  from  hunger,  thanks  perhaps  to  the 
quantity  of  rain  water  I  drank.  But  I  was  very  weak,  and  felt 
sick  and  ill,  and  at  sundown  found  myself  scarcely  strong 
enough  to  bind  the  oars  and  mast  into  an  anchor  to  ride  to 
during  the  hours  of  darkness.  I  stowed  myself  away  under 
the  sail  with  a  short  prayer  to  God  to  have  mercy  upon  my 
soul  if  I  died  during  the  night,  but  I  don't  think  I  cared  a 
finger  snap  how  it  should  go  with  me,  so  poorly,  so  low,  so 
heart-crushed  was  I.  I  slept  in  snatches  and  beheld  horrible 
visions,  and  toward  morning  grew  a  bit  light-headed,  for  I 
recollect  talking  aloud  and  laughing  at  what  I  said.  Once  I 
seemed  to  smell  the  sweetness  of  wet,  new-cut  grass,  and 
crawled  out  of  my  sail  to  put  my  hand  over  the  boat  to  grasp 
a  handful. 

However,  at  sunrise  I  felt  equal  to  getting  in  my  sea  anchor 
and  hoisting  the  sail,  and  once  more  I  started,  heading  south 
as  on  the  previous  day,  for  I  had  got  this  superstition  upon 
me  :  that  if  I  steered  in  any  other  direction  than  south  I 
should  sight  nothing,  and  be  found  a  corpse,  if  found  at  all. 

This  was  a  fine  day,  the  sun  bright  and  hot, the  sky  full  of  large 
white  clouds,  mountainous,  majestic,  glorious  in  their  sunward 
brows  with  prismatic  light,  and  their  violet  shadows  slept  like 
islands  upon  the  ocean.  Toward  noon  I  was  tormented  with 
hunger  ;  perhaps  the  pangs  kept  my  head  straight ;  I  doubt  if 
I  could  have  lost  my  mind  while  that  physical  distress  was  on 
me,  as  they  say  you  can't  die  while  you  are  in  pain. 

But  when  this  third  night  came  I  was  too  weak  to  make  a 
sheaf  of  the  oars  ;  I  kept  the  sail  mastheaded,  and  sat  fair 
betwixt  the  yoke-lines,  one  on  either  thigh,  and  a  nerveless 
hand  upon  each  of  them.  And  thus  the  boat  drove  stealthily 
along,  straight  before  the  wind,  heading  I  don't  know  how, 
with  a  gentle  simmering  noise  rising  on  either  hand  her,  and 
many  large  stars  trembling  on  high  amid  white  puffs  of  vapor. 

As  I  afterward  guessed,  it  was  about  midnight  that  I  lifted 
my  chin  in  a  lifeless  way  off  my  breast,  and  looked  with  the 


ADRIFT.  211 

languor  of  dying  eyes  ahead  of  me.  There  was  a  piece  of  moon 
over  the  sea,  with  an  ice-like  streak  of  light  shivering  under 
it.  The  circle  came  black  as  ebony  to  that  streak,  and  the 
gleam  clasped  it  in  silver.  The  draught — the  breeze  was  no 
more — was  fanning  faintly  in  the  lugsail,  which  emptied  and 
filled  as  the  boat  softly  rose  and  sank.  My  hands  upon  the 
yoke-lines  had  kept  the  helm  right  amidships,  and  the  gig  had 
doubtless  pursued  the  path  of  an  arrow  during  my  hours  of 
insensibility. 

My  eye  was  resting  dully  and  stupidly  upon  the  ice-like 
shivering  path  of  light  upon  the  lee  bow  when  it  was  taken 
by  a  deep  shadow  there.  The  moon's  wake  streamed  hard  by 
it.  I  started,  and  all  that  was  left  of  vitality  rushing  into  my 
vision  then.  I  looked  again  and  beheld  a  large  ship,  not  two 
miles  distant,  whitening  into  the  moonlight  out  of  the  deep 
dye  of  her  hull,  like  a  cliff  soaring  snow-clad  from  a  base  of 
dark  rock. 

Presently  the  moon  came  over  the  ship  where  she  was  about 
a  mile  off.  She  stood  black  and  clean-edged  in  outline, 
which  enabled  me  to  see  she  was  hove  to,  with  some  sugges- 
tion of  disorder  in  the  manner  her  yards  were  braced,  though 
of  this  I  could  not  be  sure. 

It  was  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Not  a 
light  gleamed  on  the  fabric,  no  sound  came  from  her  save  the 
occasional  flap  of  canvas  as  she  rolled.  My  eyes  were  dim 
with  famine,  suffering,  the  companionship  of  death  in  one  of 
its  most  shocking  aspects,  and  before  I  was  up  with  the  ship 
the  moon  was  off  her  ;  her  hull  was  deep  shadow  again,  and 
her  canvas  a  pale  cloud,  yet  I  could  see  her  well  enough  to 
steer  straight. 

When  I  thought  her  within  hail  of  my  weak  throat  I  tried 
to  stand  up  while  I  sung  out,  but  could  not  use  my  legs.  I 
then  endeavored  to  shout  ;  my  voice  was  a  husky  whisper — 
the  hideous  articulation  of  the  gaping  and  grinning  mouth  of 
thirst !  Without  strength  to  rise,  without  voice  to  exert,  O 
God,  thought  I,  unless  I  am  seen  I  shall  strike  stem  on,  slide 
past,  float  clear  on  the  other  side,  and  blow  away  into  eternity  ! 

In  the  instant  of  the  above  ejaculation  of  my  soul  the  note 
of  a  powerful,  familiar  voice  came  along  from  the  ship. 

"  Boat  ahoy  !  " 

I  was  fainting,  but  consciousness  pricked  its  ears  afresh  on 
hearing  those  tones.  I  recognized  them,  yet  was  too  weak- 
headed  to  recollect  the  man's  name. 

"  Boat  ahoy  !  " 

I  was  now  within  a  few  ship's  lengths  of  the  vessel,  heading 


212  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

to  hit  her  a  little  forward  of  the  main  chains,  with  just  enough 
of  sense  in  me  to  hope  that  the  channels  would  hook  the  boat 
before  she  slided  clear,  or  the  main  brace  foul  her  mast  and 
arrest  her  way  should  she  slip  astern.  This  had  been  in  my 
head  before  I  heard  the  voice,  but  now,  being  hailed,  I  knew  I 
was  seen, .and,  being  seen,  that  I  should  be  rescued. 

I  dimly  distinguished  a  group  of  shadows  near  the  mizzen 
rigging,  and  heard  a  fluttering  growl  of  eager  talk.  I  seemed 
to  recognize  the  ship,  swollen  and  disproportioned  as  she 
looked  to  my  disordered  brain,  shaping  and  reforming  as  if 
fashioned  of  a  thundercloud,  bulbous  aloft  as  though  a  breeze 
blew,  but  ghastly  pale  and  writhing  from  yardarm  to  yardarm, 
every  perceptible  shroud  wriggling  off  into  the  darkness  in  a 
horrible  likeness  of  huge  eels  of  endless  length.  The  gig 
entered  the  dark  shadow  of  her,  and  the  fabric  of  spars  and 
canvas  towered  over  me  to  the  stars. 

"  It's  the  ship's  gig,  and  there's  Mr.  Morgan  in  her,"  some- 
one over  my  head  said. 

The  boat's  bows  hit  the  side  ;  the  shock  was  slight — as 
trifling  as  the  thrust  of  a  boathook,  yet  it  struck  through  my 
brain  like  the  blow  of  a  stone  ;  as  the  boat  swung  I  struggled 
to  stand,  and  fell  forward  insensible. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
BRIGSTOCK'S  VISIT. 

ON  regaining  consciousness  I  found  myself  in  a  bunk  in  a 
ship's  cabin.  I  stared  vacantly,  understanding  nothing.  Then 
I  took  notice  of  things  one  by  one  ;  it -was  night  time  ;  the 
bracket  lamp  was  alight,  and  swung  sharply  ;  a  woman  sat 
near  it  with  her  back  upon  me  holding  up  a  book  to  her  face. 
She  had  black  hair  in  great  plenty,  was  without  a  hat,  and  was 
dressed  in  black  with  a  white  apron. 

I  lay  with  hopeless  brains.  Nothing  was  to  be  grasped  for 
a  long  while.  As  a  stone  is  to  a  sitting  hen  in  a  passion  of 
incubation,  so  to  my  intelligence  was  this  cabin  with  its  figure 
of  a  woman  reading  by  lamplight. 

On  a  sudden,  but  not  for  many  minutes  after  I  had  opened 
my  eyes,  the  woman  turned  and  looked  at  me.  It  was  Kate 
Darnley.  The  instant  I  saw  her  I  smiled,  knowing  her,  and 
then  it  was  all  mine  in  a  flash  of  perception. 

I  was  in  the  captain's  cabin  in  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and 
yonder  was  Kate  Darnley  nursing  me.  She  got  up  and  came 


BRIG  STOCK'S    VISIT.  213 

close,  holding  by  the  side  of  the  bunk.  The  ship  was  pitch- 
ing and  rolling  heavily.  There  was  a  frequent  thunder 
of  rushing  surge  and  lightning-like  glance  of  white  waters 
upon  the  cabin  window,  and  the  air  was  full  of  grinding  noises, 
and  of  the  long-drawn  vibrant  humming  you  hear  under  deck 
when  a  gale  is  sweeping  betwixt  reeling  masts. 

I  looked  up  into  Kate's  dark  eyes,  and  tried  to  speak,  but 
could  only  make  mouths  at  her.  She  put  her  hand  upon  my 
forehead,  and  still  holding  the  side  of  the  bunk  she  sank  to 
the  full  length  of  her  arm,  and  put  her  face  close  to  mine.  I 
contrived,  perhaps  by  speech,  perhaps  by  gesture — a  deuce  of 
a  dreamy  time  was  that ! — to  make  her  understand  I  was 
hungry  and  thirsty.  She  left  me,  but  soon  returned  with  a 
pannikin  of  spirits  and  water,  and  a  sandwich  of  biscuits  and 
tinned  meat.  She  managed  her  footing  finely,  swaying  with- 
out stagger  or  run  upon  the  hard,  quick  heave  of  the  deck,  as 
a  bubble  poises  to  the  perpendicular,  make  you  what  angles 
you  will  with  the  pipe  that  blows  it. 

I  tried  to  sit  up,  but  could  not ;  she  got  behind  me  and  pil- 
lowed my  back  with  her  figure,  contriving  her  hands  as  a  table 
for  me,  and  so  I  ate  and  drank,  and  in  a  very  little  while  was 
marvelously  better  for  the  meal.  She  knelt  by  my  side — a 
safe  posture  in  such  a  sea  as  I  now  felt  was  running — and  our 
talk  ran  thus  : 

"  What  has  happened  ? " 

"  Oh,  much.  You  have  been  insensible  ever  since  you  were 
taken  out  of  the  boat." 

"  The  boat.    The  boat.    I  remember  !    How  long  ago  is  it  ?  " 

"  This  is  Friday  night.  You  were  rescued  on  Wednesday 
night  about  this  hour." 

"  What's  the  time?" 

"  Nearly  three  o'clock.  It's  blowing  fearfully,  and  the  ship 
is  hove  to.  While  I  kneel  I  should  give  God  thanks  you  are 
here.  It's  been  stormy  ever  since  that  night,  but  not  as  now." 

"  Brigstock — Brigstock,"  I  muttered.  "  That's  the  name. 
He's  my  murderer,  though  I  live.  For  the  second  time,  too, 
since  I  left  England.  Will  the  third  time  fail  ?  The  devils  ! 
To  send  me  adrift  in  that  thickness,  and  the  schooner  to 
windward,  d'ye  remember,  and  the  villains  trimming  sail  the 
moment  I  was  adrift.  For  what?  For  what?  " 

"  Now  be  calm.     You  are  safe,  and  they  are  sorry." 

I  sobbed  once  or  twice,  like  a  fool,  in  my  weakness,  where- 
upon she  stroked  my  hand. 

"  Holy  God  !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  What  a  time  they've  made 
me  go  through." 


214  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  It  was  your  friend  Alice  Perry's  doings,"  said  she.  "  Not 
that  there  was  malice  in  it  ;  it  was  ignorant,  unreckoning 
hate." 

"Of  me?" 

"  No,  no  ;  of  the  Brigstock  lot." 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  I,  smiling  and  speaking  faintly;  "I  remem- 
ber." 

But  what  I  meant  I  don't  know,  for  at  this  point  my  head 
got  confused,  my  eyes  turned  up,  Kate's  face  faded  out,  I 
struggled  to  speak,  to  see  her,  to  collect  my  mind,  then  sunk, 
as  she  afterward  told  me,  with  a  long  sigh,  into  a  sleep  deep 
and  dreamless  as  the  slumber  of  the  grave. 

There  was  a  brave  dance  of  sunshine  in  the  cabin  when  I 
awoke.  The  light  off  the  rolling  ocean  outside  streamed  with 
piercing  whiteness  through  the  cabin  porthole,  with  an  occa- 
sional eclipse  of  the  wet  circle  of  glass  by  a  roaring  green  sea. 
I  seemed  to  find  myself  as  well  as  ever  I  had  been  in  my  life 
until  I  endeavored  to  sit  up,  and  was  then  sensible  of  a  good 
deal  of  weakness  and  prostration. 

A  mattress  lay  upon  the  cabin  deck.  Kate  stood  before  the 
looking-glass  winding  her  hair  up  on  her  head,  and  the  molded 
ripenesses  of  her  figure  found  twenty  graceful  expressions 
while  she  leaned  from  the  slant  of  the  plank,  her  hands  above 
her.  I  called  her  name,  and  she  looked  round  with  a  blush 
and  a  smile.  After  some  commonplaces  of  greeting  she  told 
me  it  was  nine  o'clock,  and  that  Brigstock  had  tapped  twice 
on  the  door  within  the  past  hour  to  know  if  I  was  awake, 
and  how  I  did. 

"  But  they  have  another  navigator  ? " 

"  No.     The  man  they  stole  knows  nothing  about  it." 

"  Nothing  about  it  !  " 

"  He  called  himself  second  mate  when  he  came  on  board, 
and  they  took  it  for  granted  he  knew  navigation,  so  they 
locked  him  up,  after  nearly  killing  the  poor  wretch,  just  as  they 
imprisoned  you.  But  when  they  asked  him  to  navigate  the 
ship,  he  told  them  he  was  a  sailmaker  and  had  never  learned 
to  read  or  write." 

Seeing  me  laughing,  she  broke  into  a  hearty  laugh  herself. 

"  As  sailmaker  he  was,  of  course,  acting  as  second  mate  of 
the  schooner,"  said  I,  breaking  up  my  words  with  laughter. 
"  What's  become  of  him  ?  " 

"  He's  in  the  forecastle,  and  is  one  of  the  crew.  I  have 
been  nursing  you  since  Wednesday  night,  and  know  little  of 
what's  going  on  in  the  ship." 

"  Have  they  been  sailing  her  ? " 


BR1GSTOCK*S    VISIT.  215 

"  Not  since  Wednesday  morning." 

But  I  could  see  by  the  hurrying  of  light  in  the  cabin  that 
she  was  going  through  it  now,  and  the  telltale,  which  hung 
within  easy  eyeshot,  gave  her  course  as  S.  S.  W. 

"  I'll  get  you  some  breakfast,"  said  Kate,  taking  up  her  hat 
from  the  writing  table. 

"  Who  was  that  woman  that  committed  suicide  ? " 

"  A  girl  named  Mary  Lonney.  Oh  !  what  a  terrible  night 
that  was.  She  slept  in  one  of  the  closed  places,  next  to  Miss 
Cobbs.  Three  lay  on  one  shelf.  Miss  Lonney  was  the 
middle  one.  The  other  two  were  covered  with  her  blood,  and 
their  cries  were  dreadful,  and  so  were  their  looks  when  the 
lantern  was  lighted  and  we  saw  them  in  their  nightdresses." 

"  What  did  the  girl  kill  herself  for?  " 

"  They  say  she  was  mad.  There  are  several  stories.  One 
is  that  she  was  engaged  to  be  married.  The  man  not  only 
left  her,  but  robbed  her,  and  she  determined  to  emigrate. 
She  was  a  pensive,  sad-faced  girl,  with  the  most  wistful  eyes 
I  ever  saw." 

She  shuddered,  took  a  shawl  from  the  mattress,  and  left  the 
cabin.  There  was  a  promptness  of  manner,  a  decision  of 
speech  in  her,  that  wonderfully  pleased  me.  It  gave  a  fine, 
spirited  coloring  to  one's  thoughts  of  her.  She  was  a  sort  of 
girl,  I  thought,  to  encounter  life  with  a  firm  brow  and  a  con- 
quering patience  of  resolution,  and  I  was  grateful  to  her  for 
nursing  me,  and  for  the  light  of  the  thankful  heart  in  her  face 
when  she  found  me  conscious. 

I  lay  quiet,  watching  the  play  of  the  foam-white  dazzle  in 
the  cabin,  thinking  over  the  horrible  days  and  nights  I  had 
passed  in  the  ship's  gig,  and  reflecting  very  earnestly  in  the 
direction  of  the  future — how  I  was  to  bear  myself  with  Brig- 
stock  and  the  crew,  what  manner  I  should  put  on  if  they 
offered  me  command  again,  and  so  on.  When  Kate  returned 
she  was  followed  by  Gouger  with  some  breakfast  for  her  and 
me.  I  looked  the  young  brute  sternly  in  the  face,  but  other- 
wise made  no  sign.  The  fellow  viewed  me  askew,  shyly  and 
uneasily,  and  went  out  in  a  skulking  manner  after  putting 
down  the  breakfast  tray.  I  told  Kate  that  that  dog  had  never 
once  spoken  to  me  all  the  time  I  was  locked  up,  in  a  torment 
of  suspense,  not  being  able  to  imagine  the  charge  against  me 
nor  what  the  crew  designed. 

"  I  it  was,"  said  she,  "  more  than  Alice  Perry,  who  cleared 
you,  though  at  a  cost  which  I'm  afraid  won't  please  you." 

"  I  don't  understand." 

"Why,"  she  answered,  "though  I  heard  that  the  men  had 


216  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

imprisoned  you,  I  could  not  get  to  learn  why.  Miss  Cobbs 
refused  to  explain.  The  rumor  went  that  they  had  confined 
you  because  of  your  insisting  upon  training  a  crew  of  women 
to  work  the  ship.  I  wondered  at  that,  and  told  Brigstock 
I  thought  it  hard  you  should  be  locked  up  merely  for  amusing 
a  section  of  the  girls.  He  answered  me  so  short  I  determined 
to  say  no  more  to  him,  never  guessing,  however,  what  was  to 
happen  to  you.  We  were  at  breakfast  when  the  hatch  was 
covered  up.  Miss  Cobbs  had  previously  lighted  the  lanterns. 
We  were  again  imprisoned,  and  some  of  the  women  were 
horribly  frightened.  It  was  shocking  to  be  locked  up  in 
a  ship  that  was  without  a  navigator,  in  the  power  of  a  set  of 
men  who  might  at  any  moment  throw  off  the  mask  and  prove 
themselves  villains." 

She  paused  to  hand  me  some  tea,  then  resumed  : 

"  We  were  kept  below  till  we  were  nearly  suffocated.  It 
was  pouring  with  rain  when  the  hatch  was  opened.  I  was  the 
first  to  run  up,  feeling  secretly  convinced  that  while  we  had 
been  locked  up  in  the  'tween  decks  the  men  had  been  doing 
something  to  you.  I  saw  Brigstock  standing  in  the  cuddy 
door.  He  looked  as  if  he  had  been  fighting.  I  asked  him 
what  he  had  done  with  you.  He  pointed  with  his  thumb  over 
his  shoulder,  and  said,  '  He's  been  sent  away.'  '  AVhat  for?' 
I  said,  terribly  frightened.  I  imagined  they  had  killed  you. 
He  looked  at  me  moodily,  as  if  debating  whether  he  should 
answer,  then  broke  into  speech  with  a  roaring  voice  of  rage, 
and  told  me  the  crew  had  sent  you  away  because  you'd  plotted 
to  confine  them  in  the  fo'c's'le  and  sail  the  ship  to  a  near  port, 
where  you'd  hand  them  over  to  the  police  as  pirates." 

"  As  I  thought,"  said  I. 

"  He  told  me  I  might  save  my  tears,  as  you  weren't  dead 
yet,  though  had  it  been  any  other  crew  than  this  ship's  your 
body  would  be  swinging  at  the  yardarm.  I  went  into  the 
'tween  decks  to  think.  I  then  called  to  Alice  Perry,  and 
brought  her  and  others  of  the  girls  you  taught  around  me,  and 
told  them  how  Brigstock  had  sent  you  away,  though  in  what 
manner  I  did  not  know,  and  for  what.  Then  Alice  Perry, 
with  her  eyes  on  fire,  said  it  was  her  doing,  though  she  had 
never  meant  it  should  hurt  you.  Some  of  the  girls  had  talked 
about  the  plot  they'd  hatched  and  gone  to  you  in  the  cuddy  to 
talk  over;  they  had  been  overheard,  or  perhaps  couldn't  keep 
the  secret.  Certain  of  the  women  who  have  taken  _up  with 
the  seaman  carried  what  they'd  picked  up  to  the  crew.  When 
Alice  Perry  heard  this  she  went  forward  and  made  matters 
worse  by  taunting  the  crew,  declaring  that  they  were  in  your 


BRIGSTOCK'S    VISIT.  217 

power,  and  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  police  before  long, 
and,  vile-tempered  fool  as  she  is,  persuaded  them  the  plot 
that  had  come  to  their  ears  vrasyeurs.  This  she  owned  while 
we  sat  talking  about  it  in  the  'tween  decks.  After  hearing 
her  I  made  her  go  with  me  to  Brigstock,  to  whom  I  explained 
your  motive  for  training  a  company  of  girls  to  maneuver  the 
ship.  He  listened  like  a  man  who  is  willing  that  justice  should 
be  done.  I  told  him  that  the  plot  had  been  the  girls',  not 
yours.  Alice  Perry  declared  that  that  was  so,  named  a  num- 
ber of  the  women  who  had  talked  it  over,  and  said  in  her  fiery, 
affronting  way  that  she  and  the  others  had  come  to  you,  and 
you  had  refused  to  hear  them  on  the  subject.  So  you  see," 
said  she,  smiling,  "I  had  to  give  them  the  truth  to  prove  your 
innocence." 

"  It  was  then  too  late.  What  had  he  to  say  upon  my  motive 
for  training  the  girls  ? " 

"  Nothing.  He  asked  a  few  questions,  but  for  the  most 
part  listened  in  silence.  Upset  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help  being 
amused  at  his  airs  of  importance  and  efforts  to  look  like  a 
judge.  I  believe  he  talked  to  the  crew  afterward,  for  they 
came  about  us  and  asked  many  questions,  collecting  evidence, 
as  it  were,  all  which  went  to  establish  your  innocence  ;  the 
women  who  called  upon  you  in  the  cabin  all  agreed  in  their 
story.  But  I  think  what  helped  them  best  to  see  the  truth  was 
the  discovery  that  the  man  they'd  stolen  was  perfectly  illiterate 
and  no  navigator." 

"  Did  you  hear  what  had  become  of  me  ? " 

"Yes;  the  men  told  their  'pardners,'  as  Miss  Cobbs  calls 
them,  you'd  been  sent  in  a  boat  to  the  schooner  they'd  stolen 
the  man  from.  I  believed  you  were  safe,  little  imagining  the 
reality." 

Just  at  this  minute  the  door  was  rapped,  and  Brigstock 
called  to  know  if  he  could  come  in.  On  entering  he  shut  the 
door,  then  backed  against  it,  pulling  off  his  cap  and  twisting  it 
with  gestures  of  agitation,  while  he  eyed  me  with  the  stupid 
steadfast  stare  of  a  sheep  at  a  dog,  slowly  moving  his  jaw  as 
though  he  ground  tobacco. 

I  should  have  been  deeply  stirred  by  the  sight  of  the  fellow 
had  I  not  had  plenty  of  time  to  consider  how  I  should  bear 
myself  when  we  met.  I  was  now  sitting  up  in  my  bunk  ;  they 
had  removed  my  soaked  clothes  on  taking  me  out  of  the  boat, 
and  dressed  my  lifeless  figure  in  a  flannel  shirt  and  warm  slop 
sea  drawers  and  stockings  used  for  sea  boots,  and  over  all  was 
a  blanket.  I  looked  wild  and  grim,  with  disordered  hair  and 
beard  of  four  days'  growth.  The  sailor  wore  his  hair  as  flow- 


218  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ing  as  his  trousers  in  those  days  ;  mine  hid  my  ears  and  curled 
upon  my  coat  collar. 

"  Captain  Morgan,"  said  Brigstock  in  a  slow,  deep,  trem- 
bling voice,  "  I  hope  as  jer  now  a-feeling  of  jer  old  self  again, 
sir?" 

"  Mr.  Brigstock,  you  and  your  people  have  used  me  most 
damnably  ill." 

"  It  never  would  have  been  done  had  we  knowed  the  truth." 

"  The  truth  !  Why,  man,  you  wouldn't  take  the  trouble  to 
find  it  out.  Is  the  sentencing  of  a  man  before  he's  heard  to 
be  a  part  of  your  constitution — the  sentencing  of  him  to  death, 
mark  you  !  for  you  know  you  sent  me  away  to  perish  !  " 

His  mouth  worked  as  though  he  were  overwhelmed  with 
thought  too  big  for  utterance.  He  flung  his  cap  down,  and 
approaching  my  bunk  with  a  stride,  first  looking  slowly  with 
something  of  a  bewildered  expression  at  Kate,  and  then  fasten- 
ing his  dark  eyes  upon  me,  he  exclaimed,  "  We  thought  jer 
meant  to  clap  the  hatches  on  us  men  and  navigate  the  vessel 
to  where  jer  could  give  us  into  custody.  They  said  it  were 
your  scheme.  Why  didn't  jer  tell  us  why  you  was  a-putting 
them  females  through  their  facings  for  as  sailors  ?  If  for  to 
navigate  this  ship  after  we'd  left  her,  why  didn't  jer  say  so  ? 
You  so  hacted,  and  we  so  misunderstood,  that  there  was  nothen 
but  to  make  the  two  and  two  a  plain  four,  and  thankful  I  am 
and  truly  grateful  likewise  that  jer  death  warn't  the  conse- 
quence of  the  conclusion  we  arrived  at." 

"You  called  me  villain  ;  you  would  not  hear  me  !  "  I  cried, 
trembling  and  flushed  with  the  temper  his  words  excited. 

"  The  captain  is  still  very  weak  and  oughtn't  to  be  worried," 
said  Kate. 

"  I've  come  to  hask  his  forgiveness,  miss.  Capt'n,  it  was  a 
mistake.  We  was  goaded  to  it.  That  there  Alice  Perry  made 
out  we  was  in  your  power,  and  that  you  meant  to  bring  us  to 
punishment.  We  had  trusted  jer  and  done  what  was  right, 
and  I  tell  jer  the  news  of  that  there  scheme,  which  we  took  to 
be  yourn,  turned  the  blood  in  our  veins  into  blazing  oil,  and  I 
thank  the  Lord,  I  do,  that  it's  as  it  be,  so  mad  we  all  was. 
Three  was  for " 

He  checked  himself,  and  sunk  his  eyes,  pulled  a  red  hand- 
kerchief out  of  his  pocket  and  mopped  his  brow. 

The  man's  voice  assured  me  his  agitation  was  unaffected  ; 
so  did  the  movements  of  his  face.  He  advanced  another  stride 
and  extended  his  hand. 

"  Capt'n,  I'm  here  on  the  part  of  the  crew  for  to  ask  jer 
pardon.  May  I  tell  'em  it's  granted  ? " 


BRIGSTOCK' S    VISIT.  219 

"  Hang  your  fool's  play  !"  cried  I  passionately.  "What  good 
would  my  forgiveness  be  to  men  who,  on  the  evidence  of  any 
lying  woman  in  the  'tween  decks,  would  yardarm  me  to-morrow, 
would  swing  me  now,  without  giving  me  a  chance  to  prove  my 
innocence  ? " 

"  It  never  could  happen  again,  sir,"  said  he  in  a  heavy,  level, 
solemn  voice. 

"Chaw!" 

"  You'll  be  in  a  fever  if  this  goes  on,"  said  Kate. 

He  began  to  address  me  ;  I  cut  him  short  with  the  insolence 
and  contempt  of  the  quarter-deck  in  its  references  to  the  fore- 
castle. 

"  What  is  it  you  want  ?  You  have  a  navigator.  Now  you 
know  I'm  an  innocent  man  you  don't  ask  for  my  blood,  do 
you  ?  Therefore  put  me  honestly  aboard  the  first  ship  that 
comes  along." 

"  Then  I  must  tell  jer,"  said  he,  "  that  we  aint  got  no 
navigator." 

"  You  plundered  the  schooner  of  one  ;  what  have  you  done 
with  him  ? " 

"  He  called  himself  second  mate,  but  he's  no  navigator. 
He's  scarce  got  laming  enough  to  write  a  cross  for  his  mark. 
I  thought  he  was  a-lying,  and  put  that  there  sextant  into  his 
hand,  but  I  soon  see  he  didn't  know  what  it  was." 

"  What  do  you  want  ? " 

"  Your  services,  sir." 

I  lay  back  and  shut  my  eyes. 

"  Leave  him,"  said  Kate,  "  or  he'll  be  too  ill  to  serve 
you." 

He  was  scared  by  this  hint,  and  softly  went  out. 

As  the  morning  advanced  I  felt  strong  enough  to  rise. 
The  clothes  I  wore  when  sent  adrift  were  in  the  cabin  ;  I 
shaved  and  dressed  myself,  and  felt  perfectly  well,  only  that  I 
was  a  little  weak  in  the  knees.  I  opened  the  log  book,  and 
smiled  to  observe  that  no  entries  had  been  made  since  the  date 
when  my  own  hand  had  last  written  in  it. 

Brigstock  may  have  heard  from  Kate  that  I  was  getting 
up.  He  knocked  on  the  cabin  door  just  before  I  had  finished 
dressing.  He  was  accompanied  by  Isaac  Coffin  and  Joe 
Harding.  I  folded  my  arms  and  leaned  against  the  bunk. 
Harding  knuckled  his  forehead  and  said  in  a  low  voice  : 

"  Capt'n,  I  can  only  say  as  man  to  man,  I'm  glad  it  is  as 
it  is." 

"  You'd  have  hanged  me  !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Not  Joe,"  said  Brigstock  gravely. 


220  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  You  told  me  just  now  that  three  of  you  would  have — then 
checked  yourself.  Which  of  you  would  have  done  it  ?  "  said 
I,  turning  my  eye  upon  Coffin. 

Brigstock  answered,  "  Only  consider  what  we  was  afeared 
jer  meant  to  do." 

"  Was  that  man  one  of  the  three  ?  "  said  I,  pointing  to  Coffin. 

They  were  silent,  but  I  found  my  answer  in  the  hung  face 
of  the  fellow,  crumpled  as  it  was,  and  almost  expressionless 
with  mustache. 

"  Go  forward,"  said  I  sternly. 

The  man  hung  in  the  wind  for  an  instant  with  a  glance  from 
Brigstock  to  the  other,  then  left  the  cabin. 

"  Capt'n,"  said  Brigstock,  "  d'jer  feel  well  enough  now  to 
talk  things  over? " 

"  Before  you'll  get  a  syllable  from  me  in  the  way  of  busi- 
ness you'll  beg  my  pardon  for  calling  me  villain." 

"  I  do,  sir  !     I  do,  sir  !  "  he  cried. 

"  You  too  were  infernally  uncivil,  Mr.  Harding." 

"  Only  consider  what  was  a-running  in  our  heads,"  he 
answered,  with  a  sour  look,  and  his  thumb  and  fingers  upon  his 
chin,  as  though  he  were  holding  his  beard  to  it. 

I  began  to  bully  them  on  this  ;  stormed  at  and  even  cursed 
them,  strong  with  the  sense  of  their  renewed  confidence  in 
me,  and  defiant  with  the  perception  of  their  utter  dependence. 
No  Nova  Scotia  skipper,  bulged  and  knobby  with  revolvers, 
and  backed  by  a  grenadier  of  a  chief  mate  and  an  armory 
of  belaying  pins,  ever  hazed  a  loafing  crew  in  stronger  fore- 
castle rhetoric  than  I  those  two  men  for  sending  me  adrift  in 
thick  weather,  heedless  as  to  whether  I  reached  the  schooner 
or  not.  When  I  thought  enough  had  been  said  on  this  head 
I  rounded  upon  Brigstock  and  asked  him  what  he  had  come 
to  tell  me  ? 

"We  want  jer  to  take  charge  of  this  ship,  sir.  It's  draw- 
ing on  for  noon,  and  we  should  like  jer  to  take  an  obser- 
vation, as  we're  anxious  to  know  where  we  are." 

"  You're  for  beginning  things  over  and  over  again.  All  was 
well  with  us,  but  you're  like  a  bad-tempered  woman  :  you  can't 
leave  well  alone.  Are  you  still  resolved  to  settle  an  island  ?  " 

"  WThy,  yes  ;  of  course  we  are,  sir." 

"  If  I  take  charge  who's  to  warrant  me  from  being  hindered 
in  carrying  you  to  the  South  Seas  ?  " 

"  Name  your  tarms,"  said  Brigstock. 

"  Do  you  believe  in  the  Bible  ? " 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  he  answered,  with  a  solemn  drop  of  his 
head. 


THE   OATH.  221 

"  And  you  ? " 

"  As  much  as  I  know  of  it,"  answered  Harding. 

"  Would  an  oath  taken  on  that  book  be  held  binding  by  you 
and  the  crew?" 

"  Why,  then,"  exclaimed  Brigstock  after  a  pause,  speaking 
deep  with  fervor,  "  I  say  it  would." 

"  Very  well,"  said  I.  "  I'll  draw  up  the  oath,  and  the  crew 
shall  lay  aft  and  take  it — on  your  Bible,  Mr.  Brigstock.  I 
suppose  you  have  one?" 

"I  have,  sir." 

"When  they've  sworn  the  oath  I'll  prepare,  in  the  form  I 
prescribe,  I'll  take  charge  of  the  ship." 

Brigstock  contorted  his  figure  into  a  singular  sea-bow. 
Harding  was  about  to  speak.  "  No,  let's  hear  the  hoath  first, 
Joe,"  said  Brigstock,  interrupting  him,  as  though  the  surly 
fellow's  thought  had  been  written  upon  his  face. 

"  You  tell  me  the  man  you  kidnapped  is  of  no  use  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Of  no   more  use  than  a  figurehead,"  answered  Brigstock. 

"What's  his  name?" 

"  Thomas  Bull,  sir." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  him  ? " 

"  He's  a-going  along  with  us." 

"To  settle?" 

"  Aye,"  exclaimed  Harding. 

"  Has  he  found  a  pardner  ? " 

"  He  has,  sir,"  answered  Brigstock  gravely. 

"  Now  leave  me,"  said  I,  and  turned  to  hide  my  face. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE     OATH. 

BY  the  height  of  the  sun,  as  nearly  as  I  could  tell,  it  was 
about  eleven  o'clock.  The  wind  blew  fresh,  the  sea  ran  strong 
and  in  wide  hollows,  and  the  lift  and  fall  of  the  ship  was  as 
regular  as  the  sweep  of  a  swing.  The  snow-white  foam, 
choking  the  window  in  dazzling  leaps,  with  alternations  of  the 
green  eclipse  of  the  clear  brine,  told  me  we  were  sailing 
through  it,  and  fast.  It  was  hard  to  make  out  the  sky  in  the 
wet  blindness  of  the  glass. 

I  determined  to  get  an  observation,  but  to  keep  the  reckon- 
ing to  myself  unless  the  men  did  what  I  required.  While 
looking  for  a  sheet  of  paper  I  cast  my  eye  over  the  cabin,  but 
could  not  observe  that  it  had  been  occupied,  or  in  any  way 


222  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

meddled  with,  since  the  day  I  was  sent  adrift.  I  took  a  seat 
at  the  table,  and  after  several  experiments  framed  an  oath 
that  satisfied  me.  I  smiled  while  I  put  the  paper  in  my 
pocket.  Not  for  a  moment  did  I  suppose  that  the  fellows 
would  regard  any  oath  they  kissed  the  book  on  as  binding. 
But  I  was  resolved  to  have  the  satisfaction  of  their  humiliation, 
which  I  intended  to  render  as  complete  as  an  audience  can 
make  such  things  ;  nor  was  it  quite  impossible  that  the  oath 
lying  in  their  minds  might  spin  for  itself  a  sort  of  cocoon  of 
conscience,  but  I  had  little  hope  in  that  way. 

When  it  was  about  half-past  eleven  I  buttoned  my  coat,  put 
on  my  cap,  and  took  a  sextant  out  of  its  case.  I  was  pale  and 
somewhat  hollow  about  the  eye,  and  may  have  betrayed  other 
signs  of  having  suffered.  I  found  Gouger  in  the  cuddy  ;  he 
made  way  for  me  with  abject  respect. 

"  Go  forward  and  stop  there,"  said  I,  "  until  you're  called 
aft  along  with  the  others." 

He  hurried  out  with  eager  obedience,  and  I  liked  that 
response  to  my  orders  better  than  any  oath  he  could  have 
sworn. 

When  I  gained  the  deck  I  found  a  spacious,  wonderful 
scene  of  brilliant  morning,  splendid  everywhere  with  the  hurl 
of  roiling  masses  of  foam  into  the  sunlight  that  poured  in 
flashing  broadsides  of  light  through  clouds  of  enormous  bulk 
and  inconceivable  majesty  and  beauty  of  tint  and  figure.  In 
a  glance  I  had  the  whole  scene  :  half  a  gale  of  wind  on  the 
quarter,  curling  and  roaring  ridges,  the  horizon  working  rug- 
gedly against  piles  of  vapor  sinking  over  the  bow,  and  terraces 
of  vapor  soaring  over  the  stern  ;  the  ship  pitching,  lurching, 
thundering  onward,  with  dives  which  brought  the  foam  wash- 
ing to  the  spritsail  yard,  under  whole  topsails  and  a  main 
topgallant  sail,  and  the  mainsail  with  the  weather  clew  up; 
two  hands  at  the  wheel,  and  Brigstock  at  the  break  of  the 
poop  to  windward,  talking  to  a  man  who  was  strange  to  me, 
whom  I  at  once  set  down  as  Thomas  Bull. 

I  walked  slowly  forward  on  somewhat  shaky  legs,  for  up 
on  deck  here  in  the  headlong  pouring  of  air  I  did  not  feel  so 
strong  as  I  had  thought  myself,  and  was  at  the  rail  overlook- 
ing the  main  deck  before  Brigstock  and  his  companion  observed 
me. 

A  large  number  of  women  were  on  deck,  about  two-thirds 
of  the  whole  ;  they  herded  chiefly  upon  the  quarter-deck 
abaft  the  mainmast,  as  though  for  the  shelter  of  the  cuddy- 
front.  I  had  scarcely  shown  myself  when  a  voice  shrieked 
out :  "  There's  the  captain  !  " 


THE   OATH.  223 

Almost  in  a  breath,  as  though  moved  by  a  single  controlling 
power,  every  head  rounded  toward  me  in  a  movement  of 
white  faces  ;  the  effect  of  that  simultaneous  action  was  ex- 
traordinary ;  those  who  were  walking  came  to  a  stand  with 
startling  abruptness,  as  though  rooted  ;  and  then,  and  all 
while  you  might  count  ten,  there  arose  an  amazing,  universal, 
wild  cry  of  greeting,  shrieks  and  screams  of  welcome,  and 
hand-clapping  that  was  like  the  emptying  of  a  sack  of  shingle 
or  a  lusty  fire  of  crackers  and  squibs,  together  with  a  confused 
sawing  of  arms  and  fluttering  of  handkerchiefs. 

"  Yer'll  stop  this  time  !  "  squealed  a  girl. 

"  We  aint  going  to  let  you  go  again,"  yelled  another. 

"  There  stands  the  man  as  would  have  murdered  him," 
screamed  Alice  Perry,  pointing  at  Brigstock,  and  coming  in  an 
elbowing  run  to  the  foot  of  the  poop  ladder,  "  and  the  beast 
wants  to  lay  it  all  on  me  !  " 

"You  lie,  you  drab  !  "  bawled  Brigstock. 

"  How  ill  he  looks !  "  cried  a  woman  just  beneath  me. 
"  Why  warn't  I  arsted  to  nurse  him  ?  " 

"  Captain,  may  I  speak  to  you  ?  "  cried  Alice  Perry,  looking 
up  with  a  passionate  face,  wild  with  blown  hair  and  angry  eyes. 

There  was  such  a  hubbub  then  that  I  declined  to  exert  my 
voice,  and  answering  the  girl  by  significantly  lifting,  my  sex- 
tant, I  raised  my  cap  as  a  general  salute,  and  walked  slowly 
aft,  hearing  Alice  Perry  shriek,  "  Captain,  don't  let  him  tell 
lies  of  me  !  "  while  Brigstock  shouted,  "  Keep  down — keep 
down.  Yer  can't  come  up  here.  Keep  down,  I  say  !  " 

As  before  when  I  first  took  sights  in  this  ship,  so  now  was 
I  watched  with  pathetic  eagerness  by  the  crowds  of  females 
who  climbed  on  to  the  bulwarks,  and,  defying  Brigstock, 
heaped  themselves  upon  the  poop  ladder  to  observe  me  while 
I  screwed  the  sun  down  to  the  jagged  sea  line.  I  was  left  in 
full  possession  of  the  weather  quarter-deck.  The  man  Bull 
had  gone  forward,  and  in  company  with  other  seamen  stared 
aft  from  abreast  of  the  galley,  where  some  of  the  mess- 
women  o£  the  'tween  decks  were  talking  together.  I  made 
noon,  and  eight  bells  were  instantly  struck  by  someone  on  the 
quarter-deck. 

Brigstock  came  along  to  me  while  I  was  stepping  to  the 
companion,  and  respectfully  touching  his  cap,  said,  "Capt'n, 
we  take  this  here  shooting  of  the  sun  all  the  same  as  saying 
that  there's  no  longer  any  feeling  'twixtyou  and  us  men  touch- 
ing the  past." 

"  You  may  take  it  as  you  like,"  I  answered,  and  without 
another  word  went  below. 


224  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I  worked  out  the  latitude  with  some  curiosity,  and  found 
that  I  was  wrong  in  my  expectations  by  above  a  degree. 
Indeed  the  ship  had  made  seventy  miles  of  something  in  ex- 
cess of  what  I  had  supposed.  When  I  was  done  with  my 
figures  I  went  into  the  cuddy,  and  then  remembered  that  I 
had  sent  Gouger  forward.  I  had  forgotten  I  was  to  dine,  and 
going  to  the  cuddy  door  I  shouted  along  the  deck  for  Gouger. 
In  a  moment  the  fellow  came  running  aft,  and  I  ordered  him 
to  get  me  some  dinner  and  put  a  bottle  of  beer  upon  the  table. 
All  the  girls  were  not  yet  below,  but  many  of  them  had  left 
the  deck  ;  some  of  the  messwomen  were  at  that  moment  com- 
ing along  with  kids  of  beef  and  pudding. 

I  had  scarcely  given  my  orders  to  Gouger,  whom  I  addressed 
in  a  strong  brutal  voice,  scowling  to  advise  him  I  was  master 
again,  and  to  have  a  care,  when  Alice  Perry  broke  out  of  a 
group  of  women  and  was  upon  me  before  I  could  withdraw. 

"  Capt'n,"  she  cried,  "  let  me  have  a  word  with  yer.  I'm 
your  girl  to  the  heels,  and  on  my  sacred  word  of  honor  if  yer  '11 
take  me  as  one  of  your  sailors  again  yer  '11  never  have  cause 
to  complain  of  me.  Now  keep  off,  do  !  "  she  exclaimed,  turn- 
ing upon  some  women  who  were  gathering  about  us.  "  Here 
have  I  been  charged  by  that  Cobbs  and  her  pal  Thomas  with 
causing  the  crew  to  send  the  capt'n  away  in  a  boat  and  die. 
S'elp  me,  Judas,  it's  as  blistered  a  lie  as  never  was  !  "  she 
shrieked.  "  But  keep  off,  will  yer,  that  I  may  'ave  a  word 
along  with  'im." 

"  What  do  you  want  to  say  ? "  I  asked,  taking  her  by  the 
hand  and  bringing  her  a  little  way  into  the  cuddy,  though 
keeping  her  well  in  view  of  the  quarter-deck. 

The  truth  is  I  looked  upon  this  Alice  Perry  as  the  smartest 
girl  sailor  I  was  likely  to  find  or  make  in  that  shipload  of 
females,  and  I  had  a  sneaking  liking  for  her  too,  spite  of  her 
wild,  bitter,  saucy  tongue,  because  I  believed  her  warm  at 
heart,  and  an  honest  girl,  and  I  don't  say  I  wasn't  a  little  prej- 
udiced by  her  looks  ;  she  was  indeed  coarse,  but  then  she  was 
handsome,  of  that  sort  of  low  vulgar  beauty  which  makes  a 
good  figure  on  the  stage  when  it's  viewed  afar,  and  lighted  up 
and  softened. 

"  Don't  let  that  there  Brigstock  persuade  you  it  was  me  as 
made  him  send  yer  away  in  a  boat." 

"  I  don't  want  to  go  into  the  matter." 

"  I'd  have  locked  'em  all  up  as  I  told  yer,"  she  exclaimed, 
her  eyes  flashing  with  temper,  and  her  cheeks  red  with  it  too, 
"  for  they're  a  measly  lot,  and  a  curse  to  us  girls,  who  don't 
want  nothen  to  do  with  'em.  I  own  I  bounced  'em  by  saying 


THE  OATH.  225 

you'd  be  glad  if  some  of  the  women  'ud  report  we'd  locked 
'em  up  down  in  the  hold.  That  there  rag  who's  Emma  Grubb's 
choosing — God  deliver  me  from  the  likes  of  such  a  face  !  with 
that  mustache  of  his  he  looks  like  the  remains  of  a  man  sit- 
ting be'ind  a  broom  to  hide  his  ugliness,  and  a-crumpling  up 
his  flesh  to  smother  the  parts  he  can't  conceal — he  cheeks  me 
one  morning — though  in  the  doctor's  time  they  was  forbid  to 
speak  to  us,  and,"  said  she,  clenching  her  fist  and  breathing 
quickly,  "  I  just  looked  at  him  as  I'm  looking  at  you,  and  I 
says,  says  I,"  and  here  she  pitched  her  voice  into  an  insulting, 
provoking  drawl,  "  '  I'm  sorry  for  you,'  I  says,  '  when  the 
capt'n's  handed  you  over  to  them  as  have  the  handling  of  such 
vermin.'  That  was  all.  So  don't  let  Brigstock  tell  no  more 
lies  of  me  to  you,"  and  she  rolled  up  her  fiery  eyes  as  though 
she  would  pierce  through  the  plank  to  the  man  who  was  stump- 
ing the  deck  above  on  the  lookout. 

"  We'll  drop  this  matter,"  said  I,  "  and  talk  of  what's  to  the 
point.  Before  I  was  sent  away  you  refused  to  be  a  sailor. 
Now  will  you  sail  under  my  flag  again  ? " 

"  What  d'yer  mean  ? "  said  she,  staring  with  passionate 
earnestness. 

"  Will  you  be  one  of  my  sailors,  and  top  the  list  of  all  hands  ? 
— as  you're  bound  to,  for  you're  as  smart  as  you're  handsome, 
and  as  nimble  as  you're  clever,  and  I  can't  do  without  you." 

"  I'll  do  anything  you  ask,"  she  repeated  with  her  face  on 
fire  with  pleasure.  "  Only  don't  think  me  a  liar." 

"  We'll  start  the  class  again  when  I'm  done  with  the  crew. 
I  shall  want  to  have  you  well  in  hand  before  we're  up  to  the 
Horn." 

"  Dress  me  up  as  a  man.  I  can  climb.  I  lay  I'd  lick  that 
little  fat  Jupe  in  trotting  up  them  ladders,"  said  she,  pointing 
through  the  window  at  the  rigging.  "  He  crawls  like  a 
November  bluebottle  up  a  winder.  You  dress  me  as  a  man, 
and  see  me  take  the  shine  out  of  him." 

I  smiled,  on  which  she  made  the  cabin  ring  again  with  peals 
of  shrill  laughter.  Brigstock,  hearing  the  noise,  leaned  half 
his  body  into  the  skylight  to  look  at  us,  but  seeing  me  he 
immediately  drew  back. 

"  Your  dinner  waits  and  so  does  mine.  There  '11  be  plenty 
of  time  for  talks  like  this  if  the  crew  don't  send  me  adrift 
again." 

"  Let  them  lay  a  finger  on  yer  !  "  she  exclaimed,  with  a 
mirthless  smile,  or  rather  grin,  which  laid  bare  her  strong, 
coarse  white  teeth  ;  it  was  a  snarling  hellish  look,  and  she 
wanted  nothing  but  a  naked  knife  to  complete  her. 


226  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I  was  about  to  go. 

"Can  yer  let  me  learn  that  whistle  Miss  Darnley  wears?" 
said  she. 

"  Get  you  to  your  dinner,"  I  answered. 

When  I  had  eaten  some  salt  beef  and  drunk  a  bottle  of  beer 
and  smoked  a  cigar  I  felt  about  equal  to  the  business  I  had 
in  hand.  By  this  time  most  of  the  women  were  on  deck 
again.  While  I  sat  at  the  table  smoking  Brigstock  caoie  to 
the  cuddy  door,  but  went  away  after  looking  at  me  a  moment. 
I  had  nearly  called  to  him  to  come  and  sit  down,  but  the 
resolution  I  had  formed  that  morning  prevailed  :  to  consider 
the"  crew  as  men  who  would  have  murdered  me,  to  hold  no 
intercourse  whatever  with  them  beyond  giving  orders,  to  keep 
strictly  to  my  end  of  the  ship  and  take  no  notice  of  their 
behavior,  but  always  when  the  obligation  to  address  them 
arose  to  let  them  understand  I  had  not  forgotten  that  they 
would  have  destroyed  me. 

It  was  shortly  after  one  when  I  left  the  table.  As  I  ap- 
proached the  cuddy  door  Brigstock  came  along  the  quarter- 
deck. 

"  Capt'n,"  said  he,  "  will  you  give  us  the  ship's  position  ?  " 

"  Not  till  the  crew  have  taken  the  oath  I've  drawn  up,"  I 
answered. 

"  They're  willing  and  waiting,"  said  he. 

"  Then  send  them  aft,  and  tell  Miss  Cobbs  I  want  her." 

I  stood  well  within  the  cuddy,  not  wishing  to  be  accosted 
by  the  women,  numbers  of  whom,  in  pairs  and  threes,  mostly 
arm  in  arm,  were  walking  about  the  main  and  quarter-decks, 
with  rippling  skirts  and  flying  ribbons  and  fluttering  fal-lals 
of  dress,  squeaking  inane  laughter  when  a  sudden  swift  slant 
dispatched  them  interlaced  in  a  run  to  leeward.  The  wind 
was  merry  with  their  voices,  and  the  decks  looked  like  the 
main  street  of  a  town  on  a  market  day. 

Miss  Cobbs  rose  through  the  main  hatch,  and  made  an 
uncommonly  respectable  figure  in  her  large  bonnet  and 
sausage  curls  and  dark  green  up  and  down  dress,  too  lean, 
too  scraggy  of  fold  for  the  wind  to  play  with.  She  came  with 
her  customary  wire-fine  simper,  and  demure  lift  and  fall  of 
eyes,  and  when  she  entered  the  cuddy  door  she  dropped  me  a 
courtesy. 

"  I'm  truly  'appy  to  see  you  back  again  and  well,  sir,"  she 
exclaimed,  "  after  your  terrible  experiences,  all  brought  about 
by  the  lies  of  certain  base-tongued  parties." 

"  Will  you  be  so  good,"  said  I,  as  coldly  and  steadily  as  the 
mixed  emotions  she  filled  me  with  permitted,  "  as  to  ask  those 


THE    OATH.  227 

ladies  to  draw  themselves  up  on  either  hand  of  the  deck  to 
witness  a  ceremony  of  oath-taking  that's  about  to  happen  ?  " 

"  At  once,  sir  ? " 

"  Instantly." 

She  went  among  the  women,  and  I  stepped  on  to  the  poop. 
I  saw  Kate  Darnley  in  the  lee  gangway,  and  nodded  and  kissed 
my  hand.  How  long,  I  wondered,  was  she  going  to  worry 
me  with  her  'tween  deck  prejudices  ?  Why  on  earth  wouldn't 
she  live  aft  ?  What  would  there  be  in  such  a  thing  to  miscon- 
strue ?  Wasn't  and  isn't  it  customary  for  young  ladies  to  be 
consigned  to  the  care  of  captains,  and  to  cross  the  seas  to  the 
very  ends  of  the  earth  with  no  other  eye  to  look  after  them 
than  the  skipper's.  She  had  nursed  me  devotedly  while  I  lay 
unconscious.  Her  care  had  saved  my  life,  for  all  I  knew,  and 
there  she  was,  modestly  withdrawn  from  my  side  now  I  was 
well,  herding  with  the  Alice  Perrys  and  Kate  Davises  and  the 
Selah  Bungs  and  the  rest  of  them,  partners  or  no  partners, 
cooks,  housemaids,  and  the  chocolate  girl  Emma  Marks. 

But  now  Brigstock  had  sung  out  to  the  crew,  and  all  hands 
of  them — the  dog  Luddy  being  at  the  wheel — were  laying  aft, 
among  them  Thomas  Bull,  who,  Luddy  not  counting,  made 
with  the  others  twelve  stout  seamen. 

This  Bull  was  a  big  man,  of  a  figure  and  head  that  answered 
to  his  name.  He  was  thick-necked,  and  three  or  four  chins 
rolled  into  his  throat,  like  a  ground  swell  into  a  cove.  He 
was  close  shaved,  or  perhaps  was  without  hair  on  his  face,  but 
plenty  flowed  in  long  ringlets  from  under  his  Scotch  cap.  He 
wore  a  sleeve  waistcoat  and  heavy  pilot-cloth  breeches,  very 
roomy  in  what  Captain  Marryatt  calls  the  "  west  end."  He 
was  a  bit  of  a  dandy  too,  with  a  silver  watch  chain  and  a  green 
cravat,  over  which  drooped  the  unstarched  collar  of  a  sailor's 
shirt.  No  doubt  he  was  thus  dressed  when  stolen.  I  did  not 
wonder  that  so  much  bulk  should  give  its  kidnappers  trouble. 
If  he  had  been  half  murdered,  he  had  picked  up  again  pretty 
well  since  that  time.  He  looked  fresh  and  hearty,  and  came 
along  with  a  smile  as  he  glanced  at  the  girls. 

They,  all  agog  with  excitement,  had  gladly  and  eagerly 
"  fallen  in,"  according  to  Miss  Cobbs*  instructions,  and  now 
stood  on  either  hand  the  deck,  so  massed  they  seemed  twice 
as  many.  The  sight  of  that  heap  of  human  life,  with  the 
twelve  men  coming  along,  and  the  wide  surface  of  foaming 
ocean  outside  dwindling  the  fabric  of  the  ship  into  a  tiny 
floating  toy,  put  something  of  tragic  significance  on  the  instant 
into  the  thought  of  taking  command. 

Brigstock  carried  a  big  Bible  under  his  arm.     I  went  down 


228  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

on  the  quarter-deck  when  the  fellows  were  assembled,  and 
going  to  the  little  capstan  there,  bade  Brigstock  hand  me  the 
book.  It  was  bound  in  old  leather,  and  showed  many  marks 
of  hard  wear,  and  had  evidently  gone  plenty  of  long  voyages. 
I  took  it  in  my  hand  to  see  that  it  was  our  Protestant  Bible, 
and  finding  it  all  right,  but  incredibly  worn  and  thumb-marked 
inside,  I  put  it  down  upon  the  capstan,  and  pulled  the  paper 
upon  which  I  had  written  the  oath  out  of  my  pocket. 

Before  reading  aloud  I  looked  the  men  over  one  by  one  as 
they  stood  in  a  huddle  of  twelve  mariners  right  abreast  to 
windward,  that  is,  to  starboard  of  the  capstan,  backed  on  that 
side  by  a  mass  of  about  forty  women,  all  straining  their  eyes, 
all  silent,  all  wondering  what  was  going  to  happen,  looking  as 
though  they  were  to  see  a  man  hanged. 

Though  young,  I  was  not  wanting  in  self-control ;  I  could 
put  on  any  face  that  might  suit  my  mood  or  design,  and  having 
been  thrown  with  seamen  all  my  life,  I  was  very  easy  in  their 
presence,  easier  than  in  any  other  company.  I  gazed  sternly 
at  the  men  one  after  another,  and  they  returned  my  stare,  with 
here  and  there  perhaps  a  little  gleam  of  insolence  in  some 
deep-set  eye,  but  on  the  whole  their  bearing  was  reluctant, 
significant  of  misgiving  and  uncertainty,  as  if  they  were  called 
up  to  be  rated  and  then  punished. 

Incredible  this  may  seem,  but  here  let  me  say  that  it  is  impos- 
sible for  any  landsman  to  understand  what  1  may  call  the  magic 
of  the  quarter-deck  influence  upon  the  forecastle.  It  is  pro- 
fessional habit ;  it  is  an  instinct  of  the  blood  ;  it  is  the  effect 
of  a  recognition  for  centuries  of  a  despotism  necessary  and 
absolute.  However  these  men  might  have  used  me  before, 
now  that  I  was  again  on  board  their  ship,  on  the  quarter-deck, 
viewing  them  as  captain  by  their  own  election,  the  influence 
of  my  position  was  upon  them  ;  I  beheld  it  in  every  face,  in 
every  posture,  and  felt  it  also  by  that  interpretation  of  sym- 
pathy which  is  often  your  only  satisfying  revelation. 

"  You  want  me,"  said  I  after  a  considerable  silence,  which 
had  not  been  broken  by  so  much  as  a  whisper,  though  there 
must  have  stood  a  full  hundred  souls  of  us  upon  the  main 
and  quarter-decks  of  the  ship,  "  to  resume  command  here  ?  Is 
that  so  ? " 

A  general  murmur  arose  among  the  men  ;  it  was  to  the  effect 
that  it  was  so. 

"  Do  you  believe  I'm  to  be  trusted  ?" 

"  We're  all  agreed  on  that  point,"  broke  in  Brigstock  ; 
"what  I  said  to  you  in  private  I  repeat  to  you  in  public  : 
we're  all  sorry  we  misonderstood  yer,  and  we  beg  yer  pardon." 


THE   OATH.  229 

He  made  a  movement  with  his  hands  as  though  he  would 
collect  the  attention  of  the  mob  of  women  on  both  sides  the 
deck  to  his  words. 

"  So  you  ought  to  it !  "  cried  a  woman  shrilly. 

"  Silence,  ladies,  if  you  please,"  sung  out  Miss  Cobbs  from 
somewhere. 

"  That's  all  right,"  I  said,  addressing  Brigstock.  "  You're 
willing  to  trust  me  now,  but  I'm  by  no  means  willing  to  trust 
you  and  your  mates." 

"  Give  it  'em  !  "  called  out  a  woman,  and  some  hand-claps 
followed. 

Then  turning  upon  the  men,  I  let  fly  at  them,  abandoning 
myself  to  my  temper,  and  heedless  of  what  I  said,  convinced 
that  since  justice  was  on  my  side  the  livelier  my  speech  the 
more  convincing  the  impression.  I  was  frequently  interrupted 
by  the  applause  of  the  women.  So  intemperate,  so  headlong 
was  my  address  that  I  have  no  clear  recollection  of  what  I 
said.  Once  or  twice  I  caught  a  growl  of  protest,  but  I  looked 
the  man  down,  and  stormed  him  into  half  a  score  of  uneasy 
attitudes  in  as  many  moments.  I  called  them  murderers. 

"No  true  seamen,"  I  shouted,  "would  have  treated  their 
captain  as  you  treated  me.  No  mangy  mongrel,  found  starv- 
ing in  a  fore  peak,  would  have  been  served  by  sailors  as  you 
served  me.  You  sent  me  adrift — a  single  man  in  a  heavy 
boat,  without  food  or  water,  in  thick  blowing  weather" — and 
I  went  over  the  ground,  raving  the  whole  story  at  them,  with 
frequent  shakes  of  my  fist,  and  again  and  again  did  the  women 
encourage  me,  and  urge  me  on  by  all  sorts  of  cries  and 
clapping  of  their  hands. 

By  the  time  I  was  done  they  were  as  sullen  and  scowling  as 
condemned  men,  all  save  the  burly  fellow  Thomas  Bull,  who 
viewed  me  steadfastly  with  a  countenance  of  cheerful  admira- 
tion. However,  I  cared  nothing  for  their  looks  ;  though  I 
had  cooled  down  by  this  time,  I  cried  out  savagely  :  "  I'll  not 
take  command  of  a  ship's  company  I  can't  trust.  Oh,  yes, 
you're  willing,  I  dare  say,  I  should  take  command  now,  and  in 
the  middle  watch  you'll  be  routing  me  up  to  send  me  adrift 
again  on  some  brutal  excuse  you'll  manufacture  out  of  the 
first  '  'tween  decks  '  lie  that's  carried  forward." 

"  No,  sir,"  groaned  Brigstock;  "  I  told  jer  not!  " 

"  You  must  take  this  oath,"  cried  I,  flourishing  the  paper. 
"  Are  you  willing  to  swear?  " 

"  What  d'yer  want  us  to  swear  about  ?"  said  Prentice. 

"You,  you  !  Why,  man,  you'll  have  to  take  the  oath  pecul- 
iarly," I  yelled.  "  Damn  you,  you're  the  worst  of  the  lot  !  " 


?3°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  Give  it  'em,  give  it  'em  !  "  cried  a  woman,  in  a  voice  edged 
to  a  shriek  with  enjoyment  and  delight. 

"  Read  out  what  you  want  us  to  swear,"  said  Coffin  sul- 
lenly. 

"  Listen  now,"  I  exclaimed,  and  opening  the  paper  I  read  as 
follows  : 

"  I  [and  here  comes  in  the  name  of  the  man],  in  considera- 
tion of  Captain  Morgan  faithfully  navigating  this  ship  to  an 
island  in  the  South  Seas,  swear  that  I  will  dutifully  obey  all 
his  orders,  never  judge  of  his  meaning  by  any  stories  which 
may  be  carried  into  the  forecastle,  never  hinder  him  in  disci- 
plining the  ladies,  or  carrying  out  all  other  such  schemes  as  he 
may  consider  good  for  the  common  safety  ;  and  I  further 
swear  to  peacefully  hand  over  the  ship  and  all  such  emigrants 
as  desire  to  remain  in  her  to  him,  the  said  Captain  Morgan, 
on  our  arrival  at  the  island  we  decide  to  settle.  So  help  me 
God." 

In  profoundest  silence  by  all,  men  and  women,  was  I  lis- 
tened to,  not  a  whisper  breaking  in.  I  read  loudly,  clearly, 
and  slowly,  that  my  voice  might  be  heard  above  the  roar  of 
the  white  brine  on  either  hand,  and  the  low  thunder  in  the 
hollows  above,  and  the  wild  whistling  and  hooting  of  the 
wind,  splitting  on  shroud  and  brace. 

I  looked  at  Brigstock.  All  the  sailors'  eyes  were  upon  him, 
most  of  the  women's  eyes  upon  me.  He  chewed  while  he  felt 
the  shape  of  his  chin,  then  said,  "  It's  a  reasonable  hoath  and 
well  wrote." 

"  All  must  take  it,"  said  I ;  "  no  use  administering  it  to  a 
few." 

Brigstock  turned  upon  the  men  and  asked  them,  one  after 
another,  if  they  would  take  the  oath  they  had  heard  me  read, 
and  every  man,  one  after  another,  said  he  would.  Then  Brig- 
stock  came  to  the  capstan  and  took  up  the  Bible,  with  his  eyes 
fastened  upon  my  face.  His  manner  was  exceedingly  solemn, 
perfectly  calculated  to  give  all  that  weight  to  the  ceremony  I 
wanted  for  it,  and  to  impress  the  men  with  a  sense  of  what 
they  were  about.  I  read  aloud  and  he  followed,  intoning  the 
words  nasally  in  a  deep  relishing  voice,  and  when  I  made  him 
say,  "  So  help  me  God,"  he  pronounced  the  ejaculation  with 
tremulous  fervor,  kissing  the  book  slowly  and  devoutly,  bowed 
and  bare-headed,  so  that  I  could  never  imagine  an  oath  sworn 
with  more  decency  and  gravity. 

How,  thought  I,  as  he  stepped  aside,  could  such  a  man  as 
this  have  had  the  heart  to  treat  me  as  he  did  ? 

One  by    one    the   men   stepped    up  ;  Brigstock's    example 


THE   OATH.  231 

worked  wholesomely.  The  oath  was  recited  with  reverence, 
and  the  Bible  kissed  with  proper  devotion  in  every  case.  It 
was  a  long  business,  yet  the  women  stood  watching  through- 
out with  deep,  patient  excitement,  perfectly  silent,  as  if 
enthralled  by  some  miracle  of  stage  performance;  and  though 
there  was  no  dearth  of  humor  in  this  affair,  neither  did  it  lack 
pathos,  as  I  felt  when  I  glanced  at  the  girls,  and  thought  how 
the  safety  of  the  ship  and  their  very  lives  were  concerned  in 
this  strange  uncommon  proceeding.  When  the  eleventh  man 
had  sworn  I  said  to  Brigstock,  "  Is  Mr.  Bull  of  you  ? " 

"  He  is,"  said  Brigstock,  at  which  someone  among  the 
women  on  the  right  laughed,  the  only  interruption  that  had 
happened  for  a  long  time. 

"  Then  you've  joined  this  ship's  "company  ? "  said  I  to 
Bull. 

"  It's  true,  sir,"  he  replied  in  a  strong  voice,  with  a  vigorous, 
cheerful  smile. 

"  Am  I  to  understand  that  you've  arranged  to  settle  an 
island  with  the  rest  of  the  hands  ? " 

"  That's  it,"  he  answered. 

"  He's  got  a  pardner,"  said  Brigstock. 

"Soosie  Murch,"  exclaimed  Bull,  looking  across  to  the 
women  on  the  port  side. 

"This  is  her,"  cried  a  girl  in  a  voice  of  disgust,  and 
several  women  forced  a  tall,  stout,  strapping  young  woman 
with  red  hair  and  red  cheeks  out  of  the  ranks.  This  was 
attended  by  much  hissing  and  some  laughter.  The  girl, 
purple  with  temper  and  confusion,  fell  back  heavily  into  the 
crowd  and  got  against  the  bulwarks  out  of  sight. 

I  ordered  Bull  to  approach,  and  recited  the  oath,  which  he 
took.  He  mouthed  the  words  with  a  careless  air,  and  smiled 
incessantly,  but  I  believe  his  grin  was  born  with  him.  I  then 
sent  one  of  the  men  to  relieve  Luddy  at  the  wheel.  Much 
talk  prefaced  this  man's  taking  the  oath.  He  wanted  to  know 
what  was  the  good  of  swearing.  He  was  a  respectable  man. 
If  he  said  yes  he  meant  yes.  If  he  said  no  he  meant  no. 
He'd  never  taken  a  hoath  afore,  and  blowed  if  he  saw  his 
way  to  begin  now. 

A  difficulty  was  threatened  by  his  partner,  Jess  Honeyball, 
singing  out  from  the  tail  of  the  crowd  near  the  cuddy  front  : 
"  Don't  you  take  no  hoaths,  Tommy,  unless  you're  sure  what's 
intended." 

On  this  the  other  Honeyball,  Nan,  her  sister,  the  cook's 
partner,  cried  out,  "  Look's  swore.  Why  shouldn't  Tommy  ?" 

Luke  Wambold  was  the  name  of  the  cook. 


232  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Several  women  began  to  talk.  Brigstock's  voice  was  loud 
while  he  explained  to  Luddy  that  I  refused  to  navigate 
the  ship  until  the  oath  was  taken  by  the  crew.  I  thrust  one 
hand  in  my  pocket,  holding  the  paper  with  the  other,  and 
stood  in  such  a  posture  as  might  best  suggest  contemptuous 
indifference  to  the  issue,  exchanging  looks  with  Kate,  who 
stood  apart  in  the  gangway,  her  face  pale  with  interest,  sur- 
prise, and  anxiety. 

At  last  after  much  talk,  during  which  I  uttered  not  a  sylla- 
ble, Luddy  came  gloomily  to  the  capstan  and  took  the  oath, 
pronouncing  the  words  of  it  after  me  in  a  "  what's-the-good- 
of-it"  sort  of  tone.  However,  he  "  so  helped  him,"  and  kissed 
the  book  as  the  others  had,  which  done,  I  handed  Brigstock 
the  Bible,  and  said  to  the  crew,  "  You  have  proved  murderously 
faithless  to  me  once,  but  I'll  give  you  another  chance.  While 
I'm  able  to  trust  you  you'll  be  able  to  trust  me.  Keep  the 
oath  and  do  your  duty." 

I  then  thanked  the  women  for  attending,  and,  pulling  off 
my  cap  and  making  a  low  bow,  first  to  port  and  then  to 
starboard,  I  walked  straight  into  the  cuddy,  a  confused 
noise  of  feet  and  tongues  closing  upon  me  behind  as  the  crowd 
broke  up. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
A  SAILOR'S  TOMBSTONE. 

FEELING  exhausted,  I  entered  the  pantry  for  a  dram  of 
brandy,  then  sat  at  the  table  to  rest.  But  I  was  not  allowed 
to  be  long  alone.  After  ten  minutes  Brigstock  and  Harding 
arrived,  and  the  former  asked  me  to  give  them  the  place  of 
the  ship  at  noon.  This  I  did,  and  wanting  to  hear  more  of 
the  man  Bull,  feeling  equal  to  a  short  chat,  though  not  to  the 
like  of  such  exertion  as  I  was  fresh  from,  I  said  : 

"  Is  Harding  there  " — and  here  I  nodded  at  him  contemptu- 
ously—" acting  as  second  mate  still  ? " 

"  Why,  yes,"  answered  Brigstock,  turning  to  look  at 
Harding. 

"  I  had  thought  you'd  give  Bull  the  post.  He  was  used 
to  the  duties  of  it  in  that  schooner  you  took  from  him." 

"  He's  welcome  to  the  bruised  job  for  me,"  said  Harding. 

"Now,  matey  !  "  said  Brigstock  in  a  tone  of  reproof. 

"  Oh,  for  my  part,"  said  I  significantly,  "  I'm  for  leaving 
well  alone.  You  can  look  after  the  ship  as  well  as  another, 


A    SAILOR'S    TOMBSTONE.  233 

Mr.  Harding,  and  the  men  of  your  watch  know  and  are 
used  to  you.  Is  Bull  going  to  make  a  settler  to  please  you  ? " 

"  He  took  to  the  scheme  like  a  babe  to  a  pap-spoon  when  I 
talked  to  him,"  answered  Brigstock.  "We  11  want  tradesmen, 
and  he's  handy  at  his  needle  ;  knows  how  to  build  a  house 
too,  so  he  says  ;  his  father  was  a  mason.  He  haint  exactly 
what  you  might  call  heducated,  but  he  can  read,  and  his 
mind's  stored  with  useful  knowledge.  He's  knocked  about 
among  the  South  Sea  hislands,  and's  told  us  of  a  place  we're 
willing  you  shall  try  for,  sir.  He  was  aboard  a  colonial 
schooner  a-cruising  on  some  surveying  job,  and  they  brought 
up  in  a  bay  where  he  was  one  of  a  party  of  armed  men  as  went 
ashore  along  with  the  lieutenant  or  mate.  There  was  ne'er  a 
sail  to  be  seen,  but  the  hisland  was  a  perfect  Heden,  one  of 
them  spots,"  he  continued,  with  a  grave,  slow  smile,  "  where 
yer'd  hexpect  to  find  a  Heve,  all  gold  with  hair  down  to  her 
ankles,  a  picking  Happies,  with  Hadam  a-taking  his  ease  look- 
ing on,  and  nothen  in  the  shape  of  a  serpent  anywhere  about 
if  it  warn't  the  sea  snake." 

"  Can  he  fix  the  situation  ?  "  said  I. 

"  He  can  name  some  islands  a-lying  on  the  same  line  of 
latitood,"  he  answered. 

"  Why,  then,"  I  exclaimed,  feeling  my  face  brisk  with  a 
sudden  freshening  of  my  spirits,  "  you've  stolen  your  man 
for  some  purpose,  and  he  may  thank  you  yet  for  the 
robbery." 

"I  believe  he's  a  good  man,"  said  Brigstock,  "  and  that, 
taking  him  all  round,  he'll  answer  as  a  father.  He's  already 
given  me  one  or  two  first-class  ideas  as  a  contribution  to  my 
scheme  of  a  constitootion.  All  I  complain  of  is  his  choice  of 
a  pardner.  I  don't  say  Soosie  March  aint  honest  and  the 
likes  of  that  ;  I've  talked  with  her,  and  don't  find  no  ballast 
of  mind,  no  kentledge  of  principles,  nothen  to  keep  her  from 
capsizing  in  some  sudden  gust  of  passion.  You  know  what 
I  mean  ?  She's  wan  of  them  feathery  characters  as  tosses  like 
a  bubble  on  the  froth  of  the  passing  hour,"  said  he,  bringing 
out  his  hour  with  a  sounding  //.  "  But  they  may  find  each 
other  out  afore  it's  too  late.  There's  more  besides  our  pard- 
ners  willing  to  settle." 

"  I'm  too  tired  to  talk  now,"  said  I.  "  Send  Bull  to  me 
soon." 

Presently  I  felt  too  poorly,  however,  to  see  Bull,  and  bid- 
ding Gouger  tell  him  I'd  talk  to  him  another  time,  I  entered 
my  cabin  and  lay  down.  The  ship  was  in  good  hands  so  far 
as  practical  seamanship  went ;  I  had  no  fears  for  her  with 


234  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Brigstock  or  Harding  on  the  lookout.  The  long  exposure  in 
the  open  boat,  all  the  physical  and  mental  torments  I  had 
suffered  while  adrift,  were  still  telling  upon  me.  Then,  again, 
there  was  the  strain  of  having  to  talk  to  the  men  ;  the  obliga- 
tion of  conversing  collectedly  on  such  matters  as  Bull  and  the 
island  scheme  with  Brigstock  and  Harding  after  their  treat- 
ment of  me,  was  a  torment  in  itself,  violent  enough  to  strain 
the  spirits  even  though  health  had  been  at  its  highest. 

I  fell  asleep,  and  when  I  awoke  found  Kate  at  my  side. 
The  sun  was  setting  ;  I  had  slept  heavily  as  a  drugged  man 
right  through  the  afternoon. 

"  Have  I  been  ill  ? "  said  I,  wondering  to  see  Kate. 
"  What's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Brigstock  heard  you  were  lying  down,"  said  she,  "  and 
fancying  you  were  unwell  he  asked  me  to  sit  with  you." 

"  I'm  quite  well,"  I  answered,  sitting  up.  And  now  I  felt  so, 
and  indeed  was,  for  that  afternoon's  sleep  had  kedged  me  to 
my  old  mooring  buoys  once  more.  "  But  why  must  I  fall  ill 
to  get  you  aft?  Why  won't  you  come  and  live  in  the  cabin, 
and  eat  at  the  table  with  me  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  said  decisively,  with  some  color. 

"  You  promised  to  call  me  Charlie  ?  " 

"  I  may  learn  to  do  so  before  we  part.  I  take  after  my 
father,  who  was  slow  in  being  familiar  with  people." 

"  WThere  is  it  we're  to  part  at,  Kate  ?  " 

"  Sydney,"  she  answered,  looking  at  me. 

"  How  do  you  know  I  may  not  apply  for  a  footman's  situa- 
tion in  the  family  that  takes  you  as  governess  ? " 

"  You  lurch  too  much  in  your  walk  to  make  a  foot- 
man. You'd  spill  the  soup  and  break  things,"  said  she,  be- 
ginning to  laugh,  and,  getting  up,  she  handed  me  a  hair 
brush. 

I  took  the  hint  and  brushed  my  hair  in  the  glass,  while  she 
stood  at  the  door  as  though  going. 

"  Do  you  think  we  shall  ever  get  to  Sydney,  Kate  ?  " 

"  I  do,  Charlie,"  she  answered,  laughing  at  my  face  in  the 
looking-glass. 

"  And  so  do  I.  This  ship  is  meant  for  me.  Brigstock  here 
knew  that  when  he  stole  me.  Fletcher  of  Bristol  knew  that 
when  he  tried  to  kill  me.  And  the  gig  knew  it  when  she. 
scented  her  mother  in  the  dark  where  she  lay  near  the  moon, 
and  brought  me  back  to  be  nursed  by  you.  They  don't  yet 
imagine  at  Blathford  we're  together." 

"  How  should  they  ?  They  don't  even  know  I've  left 
England." 


A    SAILOR'S    TOMBSTONE.  23$ 

Spying  a  lanyard  round  her  neck,  I  put  my  hand  upon  it, 
and  pulled  the  boatswain's  whistle  out  of  her  breast. 

"  Have  you  forgotten  the  tunes  I  taught  you  ?" 

"No." 

"  Will  you  teach  them  to  Alice  Perry  ?  " 

"  Why  to  her?  "  she  asked.     "  I  don't  like  that  girl  much." 

"Because  she's  my  hope  in  the  direction  of  making  sailors 
of  the  women.  You'll  be  seeing  her  in  man's  clothes  some 
day,  springing  aloft  like  a  monkey.  Others  must  do  that  if 
I'm  to  carry  this  ship  to  safety  without  men,  and  it's  my  policy 
to  kindle  a  flaming  ambition  in  her.  She  wants  to  learn  that 
whistle,  Kate,  and  wear  it,  and  let  her,"  said  I,  laughing. 
"  You'll  teach  her." 

"  I  don't  think  I  will.  I'd  rather  not,"  and  as  she  said  this 
she  pulled  off  her  hat,  whipped  the  lanyard  over  her  head,  and 
held  it  out  to  me. 

"  Do  you  want  to  break  my  heart  ? "  said  I.  "  You  must 
wear  this  " — and  I  took  the  lanyard  and  passed  the  bight  of  it 
over  her  hair — "  and  teach  Alice  Perry  the  music  you  remem- 
ber ;  then  let  her  wear  the  pipe,  and  be  called  bo'sun.  What's 
it  to  you  ?  Aren't  you  my  chief  mate,  or,  as  the  rating's 
termed,  only  mate  ?" 

This  brought  a  great  deal  of  red  into  her  face,  and  her  eyes 
showed  her  heart,  though  her  mouth  was  a  little  hard.  The 
porthole  was  scarlet  with  sunset,  but  the  light  was  fast  dim- 
ming with  evening  shadow. 

"  Kate,  you'll  help  me  ? " 

"  I'll  do  anything  you  want,"  she  replied. 

"  I  may  find  you  twenty  different  berths  between  this  and 
Sydney  ;  don't  growl  like  a  vicious  sailor  when  you're  shifted." 

"  Alice  Perry's  not  an  agreeable  person  to  have  anything  to 
do  with." 

"  But  she'll  make  a  good  seaman  and  a  splendid  example 
for  the  others.  So  you'll  teach  her  to  pipe,  Kate  ? " 

"  I'll  try." 

"And  when  she  can  pipe  you'll  give  her  the  whistle." 

"Very  well.     But  where  shall  I  teach  her  ?  " 

"  Bring  her  aft  on  the  poop  whenever  you  choose." 

She  put  on  her  hat,  and  I  followed  her  to  the  cuddy  door, 
vexed  by  what  I  considered  the  ridiculous  fastidiousness  that 
sundered  us. 

This  evening,  going  on  deck  in  the  second  dog-watch,  feel- 
ing very  much  refreshed,  and,  as  I  have  said,  well  again,  on 
passing  through  the  companion  into  the  starry  gloom — it  was 
some  time  after  seven — I  heard  the  sound  of  men  and  women 


236  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

singing  on  the  forecastle.  Their  blended  voices  swelled 
strong  and  sweet  in  the  wind.  I  don't  know  what  they  sang, 
but  the  melody  was  wild  and  fine,  after  that  hymnal  kind 
which  some  few  years  since  was  the  rage  in  this  country.  I 
stood  listening,  very  well  pleased  with  the  singing.  There 
might  have  been  twenty-five  or  thirty  females,  besides  eight  or 
ten  of  the  men  ;  so  they  were  not  all  partners  who  sang.  Had 
they  been  drilled  for  a  month  they  could  not  have  kept  better 
time.  The  gloom  of  the  night  was  on  the  face  of  the  sea,  and 
the  stars  were  plentiful  over  our  mastheads,  with  a  few  visible 
clouds,  though  now  and  again  a  wink  of  dumb  lightning  down 
to  leeward  threw  up  a  terraced  coast  of  vapor,  low  and  sink- 
ing. The  strong  breeze  of  the  morning  was  gone.  It  was 
now  a  royal  wind,  the  ship  under  all  plain  sail,  the  yards 
braced  a  little  forward  on  the  starboard  tack,  but  the  darkling 
hollows  of  the  clothes,  whose  yearning  faces  were  pallid  with 
starshine,  stood  hard  and  still  like  shells,  and  the  swelling  fore- 
castle chorus  found  an  echo  in  them,  to  the  height,  indeed,  of 
the  dim  main  royal,  as  I  fancied  ;  so  that  what  with  the  singing 
and  the  delicate  duplication  of  it  aloft  and  the  quick  whis- 
tlings in  the  rigging  when  the  ship  came  to  windward,  with  a 
noise  of  dull  thunder  in  the  underrun  of  the  sea,  and  what 
with  the  gloom  and  the  arrow-straight  wake  of  light  astern 
and  the  dark  immensity  beyond  where  the  flickering  shimmer  of 
the  furrow  vanished,  the  concert  was  more  impressive  than 
anything  of  the  sort  I  can  recollect. 

Stepping  aft,  I  observed  a  large  figure  at  the  wheel,  and 
on  drawing  close  to  look  at  the  compass  I  saw  it  was  Bull. 

"  So,"  said  I,  anxious  to  have  a  talk  with  this  man,  "  you  are 
regularly  on  the  ship's  articles,  I  see." 

"  It's  all  the  same  to  a  sailor  where  he  is,  sir,"  he  answered, 
handling  the  wheel  with  that  grace  of  certainty,  that  ease  of 
precision,  which  is  the  delight  of  every  skipper's  eye,  though 
not  one  sailor  in  the  hundred  has  it.  "But  I  wish  when  Mr. 
Brigstock  stole  me  he'd  stolen  my  clothes  too." 

"  There  are  plenty  of  slops  aboard." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

I  then  asked  him  the  name  of  his  schooner,  where  she  was 
bound,  and  so  on,  and  presently  proceeded  thus  : 

"I  suppose  you've  heard  I  was  kidnapped  as  you  were." 

"Oh,  yes;  they  gave  me  the  yarn  straight  enough.  It's  a 
plan  as  'ud  make  Mr.  Brigstock's  fortune  if  he  could  get  in 
with  the  right  parties." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Over-insure  a  ship  and  start  Mr.  Brigstock  after  her  in  a 


A    SAILOR'S   TOMBSTONE.  237 

smart,  weatherly  schooner  to  steal  her  navigators  out  of  her, 
as  you  and  me  was  stole,  sir.  It  'd  be  safer  than  the  casting 
away  lay." 

I  guessed  by  this  that  Brigstock  had  told  him  of  the  Hebe. 

"  How  old  are  you  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  for  sure  ;  not  fur  off  five-and-twenty,  I  dare 
say." 

I  could  have  sworn  he'd  never  see  five-and-thirty  again. 

"  You  fancy  Brigstock's  scheme  of  a  settlement  ?  " 

"Why,  yes,  when  there's  such  a  lot  of  nice  gals  to  choose  a 
wife  from." 

"  Have  you  a  wife  ashore  ?  " 

"  Every  sailor's  bound  to  have  a  wife  somewhere,  sir,"  he 
replied,  and  I  saw  him  by  the  lifting  sheen  of  the  binnacle 
lamp  grinning  with  all  his  might. 

"  You  should  prove  useful  to  the  young  colony.  Brigstock 
tells  me  you  can  build  and  stitch,  and  the  deuce  knows  what 
else.  Where's  that  island  you've  talked  to  them  about  ? " 

"  D'yer  know  Hercules  Island  ?  " 

"  No  ;  but  if  it's  on  the  chart  I'll  soon  hear  of  it." 

"  Well,  the  island  I  mean  is  about  eighty  mile  to  the  east'ard 
of  Hercules  Island." 
.  "  North  or  South  Pacific  ?  " 

"  South." 

"  A  fine  island  ? " 

"  Up  to  the  hammer.  One  of  them  islands  which,  if  rightly 
wrote  about,  would  fill  every  South  Seaman  with  stowaway 
boys  :  a  beautiful  mountain  amidships,  lovely  shady  forests, 
plenty  of  fruit  trees,  and  fish  big  as  salmon  and  sweet  as 
trout."  He  smacked  his  powerful  lips.  "  A  lovely  stream 
of  water  hissin'  from  the  mountain,  with  a  fresh  water  lake 
and  lagoon  big  enough  to  berth  more  than  the  Thames  docks 
'ud  hold." 

"  It's  a  fine  island  ?  " 

"  Aye.  The  men's  got  to  find  out  what  life's  like  in  such  a 
place.  Talk  o'  sailoring  !  Yer  don't  want  no  clothes,  and 
that's  all  the  roof  a  man  needs,"  said  he,  pointing  up.  "  Yer've 
got  nothen  to  do  but  drink  cava  and  feast  on  yaller  poi  and 
cocoa  sponge,  you  and  your  wife  wropped  up  in  tappa,  and 
the  little  ones  dandies  in  the  green  kilt  o'  the  ti  leaf." 

"You  seem  to  know  all  about  it,"  said  I,  laughing,  while  I 
thought  to  myself,  What  better  man  than  this  to  harden  the 
fellows  forward  there  in  their  resolution  ?  "  How  long  is  it 
since  you  were  off  the  island  ?" 

"  Five  years,  sir." 


238  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  It  may  be  peopled — taken  possession  of  by  this  time." 

"  That's  to  be  seen,  but  I  doubt  it,"  he  answered.  "  There's 
too  many  of  the  likes  of  that  island  a-calling  for  settlers  down 
in  them  parts  to  suppose  that  it's  been  took  and  built  upon 
since  I  was  there." 

I  left  him  and  walked  slowly  toward  the  break  of  the  poop. 
It  was  now  quite  dark,  but  the  radiance  of  the  lunar  dawn  was 
in  the  eastern  sky.  All  this  while  they  had  been  singing  upon 
the  forecastle,  but  just  then  a  solitary  female  voice  arose  ;  a 
harsher,  coarser,  more  screaming  voice  I  never  heard.  The 
'tween  decks  riddle  accompanied  it.  The  ship  grew  as  vile  as 
a  slum  with  that  noise,  particularly  at  moments  when  the 
horrible  voice  screeched  through  sounds  of  laughter  and 
clapping.  It  was  some  comic  song  the  woman  sang,  and  I 
wondered  if  the  fiddler  who  accompanied  the  vulgar,  cat- 
yowled  wash  was  the  modest-looking  slender  young  lady  who 
had  sat  on  the  beams  when  they  danced. 

Harding,  at  the  head  of  the  poop  ladder,  was  talking  to  his 
partner,  Sarah  Salmon,  who  was  halfway  up  the  steps. 
Neither  perceived  me.  The  moon  rose,  and  I  stood  near 
them  watching  her.  She  floated,  perpendicularly  barred  v;ith 
black  lines  of  cloud,  which  put  a  wild  fancy  of  William  Blake's 
into  my  head  :  that  she  was  like  a  monstrous  tiger  burning 
among  the  trees  of  a  giant  forest. 

Harding  and  his  "  pardner  "  stopped  in  their  talk  to  view 
her,  or  to  listen  to  another  song  that  some  clear,  low,  and 
rather  sweet  contralto  was  singing.  Presently  the  partner 
spoke. 

"  Why,  yes,  my  dear,"  said  he  ;  "  of  course  it  has.  My 
opinion's  the  moon's  got  more  influence  than  the  sun,  and 
is  certainly  more  useful,  as  I  recollect  an  Irish  sailor  once 
arguing,  for  it  gives  light  at  night  when  it's  dark,  whereas 
the  sun  shines  in  the  day  when  there's  plenty  of  light." 

The  partner  laughed'  and  then  spoke,  and  Joe  Harding 
said  : 

"  Why,  sartinly.  I'll  larn  yer  what  the  moon's  influence  is  : 
it  tarns  fish  and  meat ;  it  blinds  yer  if  yer  sleep  in  its  light, 
and  so  warps  yer  that  you  look  like  a  flat-fish  ;  mad  folks  are 
always  took  worse  at  the  full,  which  in  Hafrica  '11  kill  newly 
littered  young  a-lying  at  the  mother's  side ;  cut  bamboos  at 
dark  o'  moon  and  they  last  a  dozen  years  ;  cut  'em  at  full  and 
they'll  not  sarve  a  twelvemonth.  Why,  it  works  in  your  very 
'air  and  nails,  Sarah.  Cut  your  'air  and  nails  'twixt  new  and 
old  moon  and  they'll  grow  as  fast  agin  as  when  they're  cut  at 
other  times." 


A    SAILOR'S    TOMBSTOXE.  239 

Here  he  looked  round  and  saw  me,  on  which  I  walked 
away,  laughing  in  my  sleeve  to  think  of  the  sour  earnestness 
with  which  the  old  dog  was  entering  upon  his  partner's  edu- 
cation, and  of  the  subjects  he  chose  ;  and  I  also  wondered 
how  Mrs.  Harding,  whom  he  had  left  at  home,  did. 

I  went  into  the  cuddy,  where  the  lamp  was  shining  brightly, 
and  fetching  a  chart  of  «the  South  Pacific,  opened  and  pored 
upon  it.  Hercules  Island  was  indicated  distinctly  enough, 
but  eastward  no  land  was  charted  within  or  at  the  distance 
named  by  Bull.  I  was  not  surprised.  If  the  island  had  no 
name  it  would  not  be  shown.  Commodore  Wilkes  had  done 
grand  work  in  those  waters,  but  the  results  achieved  by  his 
expedition  were  not  to  be  found  in  any  degree  of  fullness  in 
the  British  charts  of  that  age. 

However,  I  was  glad  to  assume  that  such  an  island  as  Bull 
described  was  to  be  met  with  in  23°  S.  latitude  and  125° 
W.  longitude.  It  put  a  place  upon  the  chart  for  me  to  steer 
for;  it  furnished  a  sharp  and  satisfying  definition  to  the 
motive  of  this  queer  voyage  ;  above  all,  it  was  in  the  South 
Pacific,  so  that  if  found  and  approved,  then,  when  the  crew 
had  gone  ashore,  the  ship  would  be  left  within  an  easy  month's 
sail  of  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  in  the  bland  and  mild 
Pacific,  in  the  finest  climate  in  the  world,  under  conditions  of 
weather  which  might  not  require  me  to  slacken  a  brace  or 
start  a  sheet  from  one  week's  end  to  another. 

I  was  on  deck  at  seven  next  morning,  and  walked  the  poop 
while  the  men  washed  down.  All  had  been  quiet  during  the 
night.  I  had  slept  soundly,  had  visited  the  deck  twice  only, 
and  my  spirits  were  a  very  dance  of  the  heart  as  I  looked 
about  me  this  morning,  admiring  afresh  the  handsome  little 
vessel  I  was  in  command  of  blowing  over  the  blue  sea  under 
sails  of  milky  softness.  There  was  a  ship  on  the  quarter — a 
streak  of  bulwark  rail  on  the  horizon,  and  three  spires — stand- 
ing north. 

The  breeze  was  a  quiet  wind,  but  the  chill  of  the  night  was 
still  in  it,  spite  of  the  warm  splendor  in  the  east.  Everything 
looked  on  fire  with  that  light.  The  sea  blazed  under  it ;  a 
lovely  glory  it  was  with  its  delicate  pink  and  the  azure  of  the 
sea  sifting  into  the  brightness  ;  our  wet  decks  flashed  in  flames 
as  the  vessel  lazily  lifted  with  the  long  swell  ;  every  shroud 
and  spar  was  silver  veined. 

The  men  worked  quietly,  with  a  will  ;  they  hove  the  water 
along,  scrubbed  hard,  and  seldom  spoke.  Their  behavior  was 
the  queerest  part  of  all  this  experience  to  me,  the  most  sur- 
prising, incredible  passage  of  it.  I  heartily  hoped  Bull  would 


240  THE  EMIGRANT*  SHIP. 

not  corrupt  the  fellows.  He  had  been  put,  I  think — I  am  not 
clear — in  Harding's  watch,  and  these  men  washing  down  were 
in  Brigstock's.  A  very  few  women  were  on  deck  ;  most  of 
the  girls  usually  kept  below  till  the  planks  had  been  scrubbed. 

Brigstock,  who  was  on  the  main  deck,  seeing  me  on  the 
poop  came  up  and  said  he'd  like  to  know  if  they  might  kill  a 
pig  that  day.  He  added  the  people  hadn't  had  a  fresh  mess 
since  Dr.  Rolt's  time. 

I  answered  that  for  my  part  they  might  kill  all  there  was 
and  gorge  themselves  from  out  the  hen  coop  and  from  under 
the  longboat. 

"  I'm  not  here  to  interfere,"  said  I,  "  short  of  stopping  what 
I  may  consider  bad  for  the  general  safety.  I  prefer  to  leave 
the  crew  to  you,  Mr.  Brigstock,  merely  requiring  obedience 
when  the  ship's  work  is  to  be  done.  A  more  orderly  set  of 
men  I  never  sailed  with  ;  I  recognize  your  influence,  and 
wonder  at,  and  admire  it." 

This  I  spoke  with  a  sincerity  he  could  not  fail  to  observe. 
One  of  his  slow  smiles  traveled  up  his  long  face,  but  he  made 
no  remark. 

"  What  sort  of  a  man  is  Bull  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  He  seems  all  right." 

"  How  runs  his  talk,  taking  it  all  round  ?  " 

"  Why,  he's  plenty  to  say  for  himself.  Seen  more'nmost  of 
us,  more'n  even  me.  His  mind's  got  a  bit  of  a  list  with  strong 
language,  but,"  said  he,  looking  at  me  very  gravely,  "  I  never 
lose  a  chance  to  give  him  a  'and  in  restoring  of  his  intellec- 
tuals, and  he'll  sit  trim  enough  by  and  by — trim  enough  by 
and  by,"  he  repeated,  sinking  his  voice  to  a  murmur. 

"  You  allow  no  loose  talk  in  your  fo'c's'le  ?  " 

"  No.  We're  all  for  putting  a  stop  to  it.  My  mates  under- 
stand they're  to  be  founders,  fathers,  and  examples.  There's 
no  keeping  of  a  young  settlement  together  unless  you  take 
turn  upon  turn  with  morals,  binding  it  tight  with  the  lashing 
of  principles." 

"  Sort  of  human  fagot  in  a  glorified  state,"  said  I. 

"  Ha  !  "  he  answered,  "  that's  about  the  himage.  Glorified 
fagot.  I'll  stow  that,"  and  he  smiled  gravely  while  he  mut- 
tered, "  Sort  of  human  fagot — glorified  state." 

"  It's  fortunate  that  that  Bull  isn't  loose,"  said  I.  "  Sailors 
are  not  renowned  for  constancy,  and  here's  a  shipload  of 
women,  Mr.  Brigstock." 

He  stroked  the  air  slowly  and  solemnly  with  his  hand,  as 
though  he  was  putting  a  man  to  sleep,  while  he  said,  "  You 
needn't  fear  for  that  there  Bull,  It  was  two  days  afore  he 


A    SAILOR'S   TOMBSTONE.  241 

could  make  up  his  mind  to  choose  a  pardner.  He  says  he 
never  had  no  fancy  for  women  himself.  He  don't  seem  to 
believe  they're  the  same  sort  of  people  as  men.  I've  argued 
seriously  with  him  on  that  point,  for  to  deny  that  women 
aren't  got  no  souls  is  to  be  a  Turk,  which  Bull  aren't  by  all 
the  way  from  Constantinople  to  Limehouse." 

At  this  moment  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  called  to  us.  I 
looked,  and  he  pointed  to  the  lee  bow.  Brigstock  crossed 
with  me  to  the  lee  rail,  and  in  a  moment  we  saw  a  small  black 
object  in  the  dazzle  of  the  waters  about  a  mile  ahead.  Seeing 
Gouger  on  the  quarter-deck,  I  told  him  to  fetch  me  the  tele- 
scope, and  now,  when  I  looked  through  the  tubes,  the  black 
speck  was  resolved  into  a  cross  upon  a  platform,  fitted  to  what 
resembled  a  couple  of  small  casks. 

I  was  much  struck  by  the  appearance  of  the  thing,  and  sup- 
posed it  a  beacon  or  rude  ocean  signal  that  had  gone  adrift 
or  been  lost  by  wreck.  I  called  to  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  to 
shift  his  helm  for  it  by  a  point  or  two,  and  we  bore  slowly 
down,  the  women  beginning  to  come  up  and  cluster  on  the 
bulwark  rails  at  the  news  that  there  was  something  unusual  in 
sight,  and  half  a  dozen  seamen  looking  at  it  on  the  forecastle 
head. 

I  soon  made  out  that  it  was  some  kind  of  roughly  put  to- 
gether memorial  ;  the  telescope  was  powerful,  and  I  distin- 
guished, without  deciphering,  an  inscription  upon  the  horizontal 
arms  or  beam  of  the  cross.  I  told  Brigstock  there  was  writing 
upon  the  thing,  and  ordered  him  to  call  hands  aft  to  the 
main  topsail  brace,  as  I  intended  to  heave  to.  Within  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  the  yard  was  backed,  and  we  had  come  to  a 
halt,  lightly  rolling,  with  the  cross  within  a  pistol  shot  of  the 
lee  bow,  but  though  I  kept  the  telescope  bearing  upon  it,  the 
thing  so  wobbled  and  waved,  twisted  and  danced  in  the  hurry 
of  ripples  which  wrinkled  the  rounds  of  the  swell,  that  I  could 
make  nothing  of  the  chiseled  inscription. 

The  cross  was  formed  of  two  white  planks  ;  it  was  secured 
to  a  platform  of  two  similar  planks,  lashed,  nailed,  or  other- 
wise fastened  to  a  brace  of  casks,  which  were  probably 
weighted  under  water,  or  such  rolling  bottoms  must  speedily 
have  capsized  that  whole  little  show  of  topweight. 

"  Can  jer  make  out  what's  wrote  upon  it  ?  "  asked  Brigstock 
in  a  solemn  voice,  and  looking  at  the  thing  with  a  long  earnest 
face. 

"No.  There's  but  oneway  of  finding  out.  Who  of  the 
crew  can  read  and  write  ?  " 

"  Lucky's  wan  as  can." 


242  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

By  "  Lucky  "  he  meant  Luke  Wambold,  the  ship's  cook. 

"  He'll  do,  then.  Get  that  port  quarter  boat  cleared,  and 
send  Wambold  along  with  a  couple  of  hands  to  read  the  in- 
scription." 

While  the  boat  was  being  got  ready  I  fetched  a  pencil  and 
a  sheet  of  paper,  and  gave  them  to  Wambold,  who  was  busy 
at  the  boat,  desiring  him  to  copy  exactly  the  inscription  upon 
the  cross.  Two  seamen  got  into  the  boat  ;  as  Wambold 
entered,  all  being  ready  to  lower  away,  a  woman  on  the  main 
deck  shrieked  out,  and  an  instant  after  Nan  Honeyball, 
without  any  cover  on  her  head,  her  hair  blowing  loose  as  she 
ran,  and  her  face  as  red  as  blood,  came  rushing  up  the  poop 
ladder  and  along  the  deck,  shrieking  out : 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  to  him  ?  You  let  'im  be  !  He's 
my  man.  What's  he  done  that  you're  sending  him  away  ?  " 
And  then  she  yelled,  "  Lucky,  jump  out,  or  else  take  me 
along  too." 

At  this  there  was  a  great  burst  of  laughter.  Brigstock  in 
his  deep  voice  exclaimed,  "  It's  all  right,  Miss  Nan.  It's  all 
right,  I  tell  jer.  There  aint  going  to  be  no  separation." 

"Lucky,  come  out !     Don't  trust  'em,"  screamed  Nan. 

"  There's  nothen  to  be  afraid  of,  my  heart,"  bawled  Wam- 
bold. "Just  a-going  to  that  heffigy  over  there  to  tell  the 
capt'n  what's  wrote  upon  it." 

"  Lower  away  !  "  I  cried. 

The  boat  sank,  and  Wambold  vanished  ;  Nan  fled  to  the 
rail  to  watch  the  descent  of  her  sweetheart  to  the  water. 

"  Here  I  stop  till  yer  come  back,"  she  shrieked. 

"  If  that  aint  devotion  my  eyes  aint  mates,"  murmured 
Brigstock,  standing  close  beside  me.  "  That's  what  I  like  to 
see.  That's  the  kind  of  sperrit  I  want  to  encourage  among 
my  people.  Them's  the  sort  of  females,"  said  he,  surveying 
with  great  admiration  Nan's  square,  lumpish  face  as  she  over- 
hung the  rail,  "  who,  whether  jer  call  'em  mothers  or  whether 
jer  call  'em  wives,  are  a-going  to  make  a  first-class  job  of  my 
constitootion." 

"  A  fagot,"  said  I — "  I  mean  a  stick  of  your  fagot." 

"Ah,"  he  exclaimed,  with  a  sigh  of  deep  relish.  "  Jer  may 
talk  of  jer  ladies,  and  jer  may  talk  of  jer  gents.  I've  got 
nothen  to  say  agin  refinement,  which  is  the  houtcome  of  civili- 
zation, and  means,  perhaps,  over-behaving  of  yourself,  for,  jer 
see,  there's  more  bowing  and  taffy  a-going  to  it,  false  grins  and 
greased-boot  politeness,  than  society  stands  for  to  need  ;  but 
for  the  establishment  of  a  constitootion,  where  civilization's 
got  to  begin,  and  where  the  hissue  may  be  dukes  and  earls — 


A    SAILOR'S   TOMBSTONE.  243 

though  Gord  knows  when;  I  grant  that — give  me  your  Nans 
and  your  Hannahs,"  and  he  sent  a  slow  look  forward  in  search 
of  Miss  Cobbs. 

I  stepped  away  to  watch  the  cross  and  see  what  the  men  did. 
The  boat  drew  close.  Wambold  stood  up,  pencil  and  paper  in 
hand  ;  he  and  the  cross  leaped  together  on  the  jump  of  the 
sea.  I  saw  him  peering  with  many  jerking  motions  of  his 
head.  .  He  then  looked  round  at  the  ship,  peered  again  at  the 
inscription,  looked  round  again,  peered  yet  afresh,  and  seemed 
to  me  to  manifest  by  his  postures  the  utmost  astonishment 
and  incredulity. 

I  sprang  on  to  the  rail  in  a  fit  of  impatience  and  excite- 
ment. 

"  Boat  ahoy  !  "  I  roared;  "  bear  a  hand  with  that  copying 
job,  d'ye  hear? " 

But  it  occupied  the  fellow  twenty  minutes  in  writing  what  he 
read,  which  looked  as  though  Brigstock  had  overrated  his 
parts.  The  boat  then  returned,  and  Wambold  came  over  the 
side.  Nan  swept  up  to  him  with  outstretched  arms  and 
hugged  him  to  her  heart. 

"  None  o'  that — none  o'  that,"  shouted  Brigstock  in  tones 
of  disgust  and  dismay,  while  peal  upon  peal  of  laughter  came 
from  the  crowds  of  women  along  the  bulwarks.  "  Miss 
Honeyball,  away  jer  go." 

"  What's  the  inscription  ? "  said  I,  and  I  took  the  paper 
from  Wambold. 

The  writing  was  a  vile  faint  scrawl.  I  was  some  time  in 
making  it  out,  then  read  aloud  : 

"  To  the  memory  of  John  Wambold.  Aged  fourteen.  Carved  by  his 
sorrowful  father,  boatswain,  ship  Abydos.  Commended  to  God,  the  Sailor's 
Hope." 

"  A  sailor's  grave,"  I  exclaimed,  and  made  a  step  to  look 
again  at  that  strange,  pathetic,  lonesome  ocean  memorial. 

"  Wambold  !  "  exclaimed  Brigstock. 

I  glanced  round,  and  then  at  the  paper,  and  said,  "  Yes — 
Wambold's  the  name." 

"  It  was  my  brother,"  said  the  cook. 

''What  jer  mean,  Lucky?"  exclaimed  Brigslock,  while  the 
seamen,  nearly  all  hands  of  them,  who  had  come  aft  to  hoist 
the  boat,  drew  close  to  listen,  the  women  along  the  bulwarks 
and  deck  all  staring  aft  in  a  long  row  of  white  faces  and 
bright  eyes  and  fluttering  ribbons  and  feathers. 

"  John  Wambold  was  my  brother,"  said  Wambold  in  a 
gloomy  voice,  and  a  stupid,  amazed  look. 


244  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"  And  the  boatswain  who  sent v  that  thing  adrift  is  your 
father  ?  "  said  I. 

"  He  is,"  answered  Wambold. 

It  was  the  most  extraordinary  coincidence  I  ever  heard  of. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

AT      PRAYERS. 

THE  boat  was  hoisted,  the  topsail  yard  swung,  way  got  upon 
the  ship,  and  presently  the  rude  floating  cross,  with  its  sorrow- 
ful inscription,  was  slowly  sliding  past  abeam  within  biscuit 
toss.  Wambold  got  into  the  main  rigging,  and  leaning  back 
against  the  ratlines  watched  his  brother's  memorial,  his  head 
bowed  on  his  folded  arms.  It  needed  but  his  figure  thus  posed, 
putting  all  the  passion  of  rude  human  grief  into  that  rocking 
cross,  to  perfect  the  picture. 

There  have  been  times  when  the  loneliness  of  the  ocean,  in 
the  blackness  of  some  hushed  night  in  a  middle  watch,  has 
oppressed  my  spirits  so  heavily  that  I  have  felt  it  as  a  sorrow  ; 
but  never  was  the  loneliness  of  the  deep  made  so  vast,  sensi- 
ble, overwhelming  a  presence  of  before  to  my  heart  as  now  by 
the  spectacle  of  that  cross  sliding  into  our  wake.  The  whole 
sea,  laughing  and  splendid  under  the  sun,  was  changed  into  a 
mighty  graveyard  by  it.  Hundreds  of  miles,  perhaps,  separated 
the  body  from  the  floating  tombstone  which  the  old  boatswain 
had  launched,  but  somehow  that  did  not  affect  the  fancy  of  the 
dead  lad  just  underneath  his  father's  cross,  as  he  would  lie  if 
buried  ashore. 

While  the  thing  was  still  in  sight  I  called  Wambold  out  of 
the  rigging. 

"  It's  a  strange  meeting,  my  man." 

"  Oh,  my  God,  yes,  sir.  Poor  Johnny  !  I  heard  father  had 
taken  him  to  sea  lasfyear.". 

He  strained  his  eyes  at  the  object  in  our  wake  with  a  dull 
dumb  look,  like  an  animal  in  pain. 

"  Haint  we  to  get  no  breakfast  this  morning  ? "  cried  the 
sharp  voice  of  a  woman  on  the  quarter-deck. 

"  Poor  Johnny  !  "  exclaimed  Wambold,  still  straining  his 
eyes  astern.  "  I  allow  father's  'eart  was  pretty  nigh  broke  when 
he  launched  that  job." 

He  then  went  down  the  poop  ladder  to  the  galley. 

After  breakfast,  when  I  was  in  my  cabin,  1  heard  through 
the  open  porthole  the  notes,  as  I  thought,  of  a  bird  singing 


A  T  PRA  YERS.  245 

most  deliciously.  I  listened  with  astonishment,  and  put  my 
face  to  the  window,  expecting  to  catch  sight  of  a  vessel  close 
aboard.  Then  hearing  the  whistle  again — why,  yes,  thought 
I,  it's  Kate  piping  up  overhead. 

I  finished  what  I  had  been  about,  and  went  on  deck,  and 
found  Kate  and  Alice  Perry  seated  side  by  side  on  the  sky- 
light, Kate  at  that  instant  trilling  piercingly  like  a  canary,  the 
other  watching  her  with  glowing  eyes,  and  a  wonderful  grin 
of  glaring  teeth,  Mr.  Joe  Harding  sourly  trudging  the  deck 
abreast  of  them,  giving  them  a  sideways  sneering  look  as  he 
passed,  while  on  the  countenance  of  the  man  at  the  wheel,  who 
happened  to  be  the  gooseberry-eyed,  ginger-haired,  dandified 
chap,  Dick  Hull,  there  sat  an  expression  quite  in  keeping  with 
Joe's  face. 

When  Kate  saw  me  she  brightened  with  color.  She  held  a 
handkerchief  and  polished  the  whistle  when  she  took  it  from 
her  mouth  to  hand  it  to  Perry,  who  piped  while  I  approached, 
but  very  badly  ;  I  feared  the  girl  had  no  ear.  I  shook  hands 
with  Kate  and  thanked  her  for  obliging  me,  then  with  Perry 
and  asked  how  she  liked  it. 

"  Oh,  it's  just  beautiful,"  she  answered.  "  If  Miss  Darnley 
'11  kindly  be  patient,  yer  shan't  want  for  music." 

I  took  the  pipe  and  blew  an  "  all  hands  "  call,  then  others, 
smiling  at  Perry's  stare  of  eager  enjoyment  and  childish 
wonder.  But  wishing  to  look  to  the  ship,  I  handed  the  pipe 
to  Kate,  who  at  once  trilled  till  the  echoes  in  the  mizzen  royal 
were  like  a  lark  singing  in  the  sky.  Not  that  Miss  Darnley 
did  as  yet  pipe  that  whistle  with  the  ease  of  a  salted  boatswain, 
but  she  had  picked  up  such  art  as  she  possessed  with  a  wonder- 
fully clever  quickness,  and  I  guessed  there  was  no  boatswain 
afloat  whom  she  would  not  be  a  match  for  in  this  accomplish- 
ment after  a  single  voyage  of  piping. 

I  stood  at  the  rail  at  the  break,  looking  about  me  at  the 
crowds  of  females  moving  about  the  decks  from  abreast  of  the 
galley  to  the  cuddy  front,  at  the  seamen  of  the  watch  for  whom 
Brigstock  had  found  jobs,  at  the  noble  show  of  marble-white 
canvas  swelling  in  stirless  breasts  to  the  golden  balls  of  the 
trucks.  We  were  fortunate  in  our  weather  ;  the  sea  was  quiet, 
and  light  as  the  breeze  was,  the  run  of  the  line  of  crystals  and 
prisms  of  froth  over  the  side  was  six  at  the  least.  They  had 
killed  a  pig  when  the  women  were  at  breakfast  and  I  below  ; 
they  had  managed  the  matter  cleanly  and  quietly,  and  I 
spied  the  carcase  with  Wambold  busy  upon  it  hanging  in  the 
twilight  of  the  forecastle  break  just  forward  of  the  wind- 
lass. 


246  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

A  girl  after  staring  at  me  came  up  the  poop  ladder.  She 
was  Susannah  Corbin.  I  bade  her  good-morning. 

"  Good-morning  to  you,  sir,1'  she  exclaimed.  "  Oi'd  loike 
to  ask,  capt'n,  if  us  gals  of  your  company  are  to  start  agin  at 
laming  how  to  be  sailors  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  I,  "and  this  very  morning." 

"  Why's  Miss  Perry  practicing  the  whistle  ?" 

"  Because  she  wants  to  know  how  to  play." 

"  Capt'n,  don't  let  that  there  girl  be  too  much  all  there  with 
you.  Oi  know  what  it  is  ;  she  wants  to  make  out  she's  the 
fittest  of  us  all,  the  best  for  the  deck  and  the  best  for  aloft. 
What  Oi  say  is,  don't  give  her  all  the  chance ;  let  me'n  the 
others  have  a  bit.  Give  me  a  suit  of  man's  clothes,  and  Oi'm 
game  to  lay  out  yon,"  said  she,  pointing  to  the  main  topsail 
yardarm,  "  soon  as  I've  got  'em  on." 

I  told  her  I  did  not  intend  the  girls  should  make  any  experi- 
ments aloft  at  present,  but  that  I  was  delighted  to  hear  her 
talk  of  the  work  with  so  much  enthusiasm.  I  assured  her  I 
did  not  value  Alice  Perry  in  the  smallest  degree  above  her  and 
the  rest  of  my  company,  and  that  she  was  learning  to  play  the 
pipe  because  she  loved  the  glitter  of  the  silver,  and  hankered 
after  the  thing  as  a  decoration.  This  made  Susannah  laugh, 
and  she  went  down  the  steps  saying  she  and  the  others  would 
be  ready  whenever  I  was. 

Probably  Harding  had  overheard  us,  for  as  I  was  stepping 
aft  again  to  join  the  two  girls,  who  between  them  were  making 
a  grove  of  the  poop  with  their  concert  of  the  whistle,  he 
approached  me  with  a  civil  salute  of  his  thumb  to  his  fore- 
head, and  said  with  a  struggling  smile  : 

"  I  beg  pardon,  capt'n,  but  your  pardner  blows  uncommon 
well,  considering." 

"She  does,"  I  answered  shortly, but  with  entire  indifference 
to  his  neglect  of  quarter-deck  etiquette,  seeing  that  he  was  but 
a  forecastle  hand,  without  knowledge  of  the  ways  of  the  world 
aft ;  it  was  enough  that  Brigstock  and  he  were  respectful, 
suggesting,  however  covertly,  by  their  bearing  their  sense  of 
.the  wrong  thay  had  done  me. 

"  D'yer  reckon  upon  finding  the  girls  good  aloft  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  But  God  bless  my  'eart,"  said  he,  rolling  up  his  eyes  to 
the  main  topmast  crosstrees,  "  what  are  they  a-going  to  do 
with  nothen  but  soft  muscle  in  their  arms,  and  hands  like 
cheese,  in  a  reefing  job  in  a  sudden  hard  gale  on  a  black 
night  ? " 

"  When's  that  going  to  happen,  Mr.  Harding?  " 


A  T  PRA  YERS.  247 

"  Well,  when  it  do,  sir,"  said  he,  with  a.  look  round  at  the 
sea,  as  though  it  were  coming. 

"  Not  on  this  side  of  the  Horn  for  the  women,  anyhow," 
said  I.  "Afterward,  when  you're  all  gone  ashore,  we  must 
pray  for  fine  weather." 

"  I  aint  going  to  say,"  said  he,  speaking  with  labor,  as  though 
full  of  deep  thought,  "  that  it  isn't  a  good  idea  and  feasible. 
Of  course,  as  it's  been  put,  it  mightn't  answer,  with  us  men 
out  of  the  vessel,  to  ship  a  company  of  beach  combers  and  take 
strange  hands  out  of  such  ships  as  'ud  loan  'em  to  yer,  with  a 
heap  of  gals,  some  of  'em  good-looking,  still  aboard.  But  I 
dunno  that  I'd  like  the  risk  myself — no  mate  to  relieve  me  ; 
none  hable  to  take  a  cast  of  the  lead  ;  the  whole  biling  on  the 
back  of  one  man,  which,  if  he  falls  sick  and  dies — only  think  ! 
A  cargo  of  females  a-mucking  about " 

I  interrupted  him  : 

"  Lord  Nelson  said  that  at  sea  much  must  be  left  to  chance. 
With  me,  in  a  sudden  black  gale,  and  a  'tween  decks  full  of 
women  unfit  to  go  aloft,  its  what  can't  stand  must  go.  Would 
it  be  the  first  time  nothing's  been  left  but  a  boltrope  ? "  and  I 
walked  off  singing  aloud  : 

"  Come  all  you  young  men  and  maidens  that  wishes  for  to  sail, 

And  I  will  let  you  hear  of  where  you  must  a-roam  ; 
We'll  embark  into  a  ship,  which  her  taw'sle  is  let  fall, 
And  all  into  an  ileyand  where  we  never  will  go  home." 

I  allowed  Kate  half  an  hour  to  give  her  a  lesson  in,  and 
began  to  be  somewhat  hopeful  of  Perry's  ear  when  on  a  sud- 
den she  piped  "  Belay  !  "  in  as  well  managed  a  turn  as  ever  I 
could  have  given  to  the  brief  blast. 

At  three  bells — half-past  nine — the  lesson  being  ended,  I 
asked  Kate  to  pipe  my  company  on  to  the  poop,  and  away  she 
goes  to  the  break  of  the  deck,  followed  by  Alice  Perry — who 
looked  hot  and  pleased  as  though  fresh  from  a  dance — and 
piped  the  familiar  call  of  "All  hands."  I  saw  Bull  just  for- 
ward of  the  fore  rigging  bobbing  his  burly  bulk  in  efforts  to 
catch  a  clear  view  of  her  ;  the  others  of  the  crew  on  deck 
seemed  mightily  tickled.  Indeed,  as  she  stood  erect,  with  the 
silver  pipe  glittering  like  frost  at  the-  pout  of  her  red  lips, 
Kate  was  as  fine  a  shape  of  woman  as  ever  trod  plank  or  soil. 
All  the  swimming,  flowing  grace  of  the  rolling  billow  came 
into  her  figure  out  of  the  gentle  motions  of  the  ship. 

When  the  women  heard  the  pipe  they  rushed  up  on  the  poop 
ladder  in  a  scramble  of  hands,  one  pulling  at  another  to  pass. 
I  saluted  them  as  they  arrived  by  pulling  off  my  hat  four  or 


248  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

five  times,  and  when  they  were  all  massed  to  windward  I 
counted  and  made  them  forty-four.  This  number  was  fourteen 
or  fifteen  more  than  I  needed,  so  I  politely  requested  those 
who  were  not  of  my  original  company  to  betake  themselves  to 
the  main  deck  again,  promising  they  should  be  the  first  to  serve 
as  recruits  if  our  number  diminished. 

One  of  them  was  Emma  Marks.  She  glared  at  me  ;  her 
eyes  were  like  small  sunflowers,  as  I  have  written.  She  said 
she  was  as  good  as  any  of  the  others,  and  didn't  mean  to  go. 
As  she  was  bound  to  prove  as  poor  as  a  sailor  as  she  was 
unsightly  as  a  woman,  I  begged  her  not  to  be  impertinent,  and 
cautioned  her  that  her  very  disobedience  disqualified  her  as  a 
mariner.  She  then  grew  insolent,  told  me  she  could  see 
through  my  dirty  tricks,  that  my  teaching  the  girls  was  all 
tomfoolery,  meant  to  mask  an  intention  to  improve  Alice 
Perry's  education  and  manners  with  a  view  to  choosing  her 
as  a  "  pardner,"  and  settling  down  on  Brigstock's  island,  and 
she  ended  in  putting  out  her  tongue  at  me. 

I  said  with  a  smile,  "  What  character  are  you  taking  out 
with  you?" 

Before  she  could  answer,  however,  Perry  was  upon  her,  and 
a  scratching  and  screaming  farce,  as  it  might  be  called,  was 
scarcely  averted  by  a  number  of  the  rejected  females  throwing 
themselves  upon  Emma,  and  tumbling  her  and  themselves 
down  on  to  the  quarter-deck. 

Our  lesson  that  morning  lasted  two  hours.  I  went  the 
rounds  of  the  ship  with  the  girls,  carried  them  on  to  the  fore- 
castle, and  taught  them  to  distinguish  between  the  jibs  and 
topmast  staysail.  I  showed  them  the  jib  sheets  and  the  jib 
halyards  ;  we  let  go,  hauled  down,  hoisted  -afresh,  to  a  song 
which  I  started,  the  girls  tailing  on  and  singing  out  like  a 
peal  of  bells  ;  indeed  they  enjoyed  the  singing  part  of  their 
discipline  most  of  all,  I  think,  for  they  sang  often  when  there 
was  no  need,  and  out  of  time  ;  but  it  was  wonderful  how  well 
they  managed,  and  what  intelligence  they  showed. 

I  dismissed  them  at  half-past  eleven,  telling  them  I  must 
fetch  my  sextant  to  get  an  observation.  Some  begged  me  to 
teach  them  how  to  shoot  the  sun,  but  1  laughed,  and  said  I  had 
no  time  for  that. 

In  the  afternoon,  between  three  and  five,  I  'gave  seven  of 
them — seven  alone  were  qualified  for  that  work — a  lesson  in 
the  art  of  steering.  It  was  very  fine  weather,  the  wind  steady, 
the  sea  smooth,  the  breeze  abeam,  and  the  ship  easy  to  control. 
Susannah  Corbin  promised  to  make  the  best  hand  among 
them  at  this  work.  She  grasped  the  wheel  as  though  to  the 


AT  PRAYERS.  249 

manner  born,  and  the  wake  went  away  astern  of  her  straight 
as  a  ruled  line  while  she  glanced  with  her  arch  'longshore 
eyes  from  compass  to  canvas  and  back  again. 

Next  day  was  Sunday.  The  weather  was  still  very  fair,  the 
sea  flowing  in  lines  of  summer  softness,  the  sky  clad  in  places 
in  links  of  pearly  vapor,  rose  edged,  compacted  like  chain 
armor  ;  gentle  as  the  wind  had  been  we  had  made  good  south- 
ing, and  I  was  well  satisfied. 

At  breakfast  Brigstock  came  out  of  his  cabin.  He  only 
used  it  to  sleep  in  ;  it  had  been  the  second  mate's — Jeremy 
Latto's — and  that  man's  clothes  and  effects  were  still  in  it. 
Brigstock's  time,  when  he  was  not  turned  in,  was  either  spent 
in  keeping  a  lookout  or  in  talking  to  the  crew  and  their  part- 
ners about  his  constitution. 

He  said  to  me  this  morning  while  we  breakfasted  : 

"  Capt'n,  there's  been  no  sarvice  held  aboard  since  Dr. 
Roll's  time." 

"  What's  to  prevent  prayers  from  being  read  if  the  people 
wish  ? "  said  I. 

"  Suppose  we  have  church  this  morning,  then  ? "  said  he. 

I  promptly  assented,  very  well  satisfied  that  his,  and,  as  I 
took  it,  the  crew's  taste  should  lie  in  such  a  direction. 

"Will  you  read  the  sarvice,  sir  ?  "  said  he. 

I  saw  desire  strong  in  his  face,  and  answered  : 

"  I  believe,  Mr.  Brigstock,  you  are  better  qualified  than  I." 

He  looked  as  pleased  as  his  long,  serious,  funereal  counte- 
nance permitted,  and  made  me  a  bow.  I  told  him  since  he  was 
to  read  the  service  I'd  leave  the  ordering  of  it  and  the  calling 
of  the  people  together  to  him,  and  putting  a  cigar  in  my 
mouth,  went  to  Kate,  whom  I  had  caught  sight  of  on  the 
quarter-deck,  and  carried  her  on  to  the  poop  for  a  walk. 

While  we  strolled  the  crew  rigged  up  church  on  the  quarter- 
deck by  bringing  up  benches  out  of  the  'tween  decks,  chairs 
from  the  cabin,  and  whatever  else  there  was  to  sit  upon  ;  they 
covered  the  capstan  with  a  red  ensign  upon  which  they  placed 
Brigstock's  Bible,  along  with  a  volume  of  Common  Prayer 
which  they  had  borrowed  from  one  of  the  women.  Their 
partners  helped  them  in  a  spirited  way,  as  though  this  cere- 
mony was  part  of  the  island  scheme,  but  most  of  the  females 
gazed  sulkily  and  at  a  distance  in  groups,  and  I  told  Kate 
their  looks  did  not  promise  Brigstock's  good  work  much 
encouragement. 

By  and  by  Alice  Perry  and  another  woman  came  on  to 
the  poop.  The  other  woman  wore  her  bonnet  somewhat 
rakishly  perched,  and  her  gown  had  the  swelled  look  of  a  fall- 


250  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ing  parachute.  Her  face  was  flat,  her  eyes  pale  blue  and 
globular,  and  drooped  at  you  with  a  sidelong  fall  of  her  head 
when  she  looked.  Perry  was  in  a  piratical  humor.  There  was 
lightning  in  her  eye,  and  she  came  along  with  a  stormy  swing 
of  figure. 

"  Aintyou  going  to  preach,  capt'n  ?  "  said  she. 

"  No,"  I  answered. 

"  Who  is,  then  ?  "  inquired  the  other  woman. 

"  Brigstock." 

"Cursed  if  I'm  a-going  to  pray  with  him,  then  !  "  cried 
Alice  Perry,  looking  around  to  see  if  he  was  within  hearing. 

"  Nor  me  along  with  Miss  Cobbs,  so  there  !  "  exclaimed  the 
other  woman. 

"•You  needn't  attend;  let's  have  no  disturbance,"  said  I 
peremptorily. 

"  I've  a  good  mind,"  cried  the  other  woman,  "  to  throw 
some  of  them  benches  into  the  sea.  What  right  have  they  to 
take  them  out  of  our  quarters  ?  They  belong  to  us." 

"  I'll  snivel  that  Brigstock  into  proper  praying  afore  I've 
clone  with  him  !  "  exclaimed  Perry.  "  Only  think  of  such  a 
beast  stopping  us  from  getting  to  Australia  and  keeping  us  in 
hourly  fear  of  drowning  ! " 

"Behave  yourselves  properly,"  said  Kate  warmly.  "  Don't 
allow  such  women  as  Kate  Davis  and  Sarah  Harvey  to  set  you 
an  example  of  decent  conduct." 

Alice  stared  at  her  mutinously,  with  her  hands  upon  her 
hips.  I  advised  them  to  mind  their  eye  lest  the  men  should 
fall  foul  of  them,  in  which  case  I'd  be  helpless.  I  was  not 
going  to  permit  them,  I  said,  to  act  so  as  to  imperil  the  safety 
of  the  rest  of  the  females,  and  after  rating  them  into  what 
resembled  an  air  of  sulky  submission,  I  dispatched  them  off 
the  poop. 

At  half-past  ten  a  man  started  to  ring  the  ship's  bell ;  the 
crew  came  aft  dressed  up  in  their  best  togs  ;  their  partners 
also  emerged  from  the  main  hatch  arrayed  in  Sunday  finery, 
in  bonnets  and  hats,  feathers  and  flowers,  and  ribbons  and 
colors.  Their  appearance  instantly  painted  a  vision  of  the 
area  gate,  the  Sunday  evening  out,  and  the  young  man  wait- 
ing at  the  street  corner. 

Brigstock  was  skewered  to  the  neck  in  his  borrowed 
buttoned-up  coat,  and  was  evidently  trying  to  look  his  con- 
ception of  a  man  who  combined  in  himself  the  functions  of 
the  patriarch,  the  president,  and  the  priest.  His  air  was 
reverent,  his  walk  slow.  He  came  to  the  capstan  and  stood 
erect  with  his  hand  upon  the  Bible,  gazing  gravely  around 


A  T  PR  A  YERS.  25 1 

him.  I  was  struck  by  his  posture  and  appearance,  and  watched 
him  with  interest,  thinking  that,  though  mean  in  degree  as  he 
was,  yet,  after  all,  opinion  and  action  in  such  men  actually 
mean  civilization  in  the  making. 

Miss  Cobbs  took  a  chair  close  beside  the  capstan.  The  line 
of  her  mouth  was  out  of  sight  from  the  poop,  but  I  could  dis- 
tinguish and  enjoy  an  expression  of  prim  self-complacency. 
She  wore  a  peculiar  bonnet,  very  large  ;  it  yawned  round  her 
face,  shooting  upward,  shovel-shaped,  and  was  like  a  little 
piece  of  market  garden  with  its  sham  vegetable  trimmings.  I 
recollect  no  more  of  her  attire  than  that  bonnet. 

Kate  went  on  to  the  quarter-deck  and  seated  herself.  The 
seamen  sat  on  either  hand  of  Brigstock,  each  man  with  his 
"  pardner  "  at  his  side.  Observing  that  the  full  complement 
was  wanting,  I  sung  out  to  pass  the  word  for  Miss  Susannah 
Corbin  ;  she  came  out  from  a  crowd  in  the  waist,  where  there 
was  much  noisy  talk  and  flourishing  of  hands,  with  Alice 
Perry  and  the  woman  in  the  rakishly  perched  bonnet  in  the 
thick  of  the  girls.  Susannah  stepped  on  to  the  poop ;  I 
asked  if  she  would  steer  the  ship  while  Brigstock  read  the 
service. 

"  Whoy,  yes,"  she  answered,  with  her  face  lighting  up  ; 
"you  couldn't  ask  me  to  do  anything  Oi'd  loike  better,"  and 
she  ran  aft  laughing  and  in  great  spirits. 

The  fellow  at  the  wheel  was  Prentice.  I  said  to  him  :  "  Go 
and  sit  with  your  pardner  while  Brigstock  reads  prayers. 
This  young  lady  will  stand  your  trick." 

The  dark,  high-colored,  fisherman-looking  seaman  stared  at 
her  for  a  moment  with  a  grin,  next  at  me,  doubting  I  was  in 
earnest,  then  just  saying,  "  Aye,  aye,  sir,"  he  gave  the  wheel  to 
Susannah  and  went  forward,  rolling  in  his  gait,  and  looking 
astern  as  if  he  believed  he'd  be  called  back  before  he  was 
halfway. 

I  saw  that  the  course  was  right,  and  told  Susannah  to  mind  it, 
watching  her  a  minute  or  two,  by  which  time  the  bell  had 
ceased  to  ring,  and  I  heard  the  sound  of  Brigstock's  melan- 
choly voice.  But  scarce  had  he  opened  with  his  nasal  drawl, 
deep-toned  with  lung  power  got  by  bawling  to  mastheads, 
and  answering  from  remote  parts  of  ships,  when  a  number  of 
women  began  to  sing  a  hymn.  I  went  to  the  rail  to  see  what 
was  going  to  happen.  The  mass  of  the  females,  who  had 
declined  to  pray  with  Cobbs  and  Brigstock,  had  divided  them- 
selves into  three  mobs,  one  on  either  side  the  galley  and  one 
on  the  forecastle  ;  and  no  sooner  had  one  started  a  hymn 
than  the  party  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  deck  swelled  their 


252  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

throats  in  another  hymn,  while  the  forecastle  mob  shrieked  a 
further  discord  into  the  clamor  by  raising  their  voices  in  a  third 
quite  different  hymn. 

Now  this  was  the  strangest  thing  to  listen  to  you  can  imag- 
ine !  and  it  was  a  memorable  and  impressive  picture  to  behold 
also.  The  ship  was  full  of  sunshine,  color,  and  life,  and  so 
was  the  air  with  the  noise  of  the  several  hymns,  through  which 
Brigstock's  deep  melancholy  voice  threaded  its  way  as 
patiently  and  doggedly  as  an  ocean  current  a  turbulent  sea. 
I  considered  it  vile  behavior  in  the  women  thus  to  disturb  the 
worshipers,  and  dangerous  also,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it. 
I  could  but  look  on  bare-headed — keeping  the  poop  that  I 
might  watch  the  ship. 

The  Brigstock  party  listened  very  tranquilly,  every  eye 
fixed  upon  the  reader,  who  pored  upon  his  book  through  mag- 
nifying spectacles,  often  moving  his  hands  with  gestures  of 
agitation  which  contrasted  strangely  with  the  level  funeral 
flow  of  his  voice.  There  were  four  women,  not  counting 
Kate,  in  addition  to  the  partners,  and  I  own  I  was  struck  and 
even  affected  as  I  looked  down  upon  that  scene  of  worship 
from  the  height  of  the  poop  deck.  Instead  of  ropes  and 
spars,  and  the  glitter  and  music  of  the  sea  outside,  and  the 
noise,  and  spectacle  of  the  screeching  females  forward,  you 
needed  but  a  wood  or  a  little  open  space  in  a  forest  as  a 
theater  for  that  group  to  help  you  to  figure  some  quaint, 
primitive  scene  of  early  settlement,  when  such  another  figure 
as  Brigstock,  an  elder  or  father,  with  lifted  hands,  and  deep 
voice  trembling  with  fervor,  invoked  God's  blessing  upon  the 
soil  the  family  knelt  on,  upon  the  hopes  and  resolutions  which 
had  brought  them  to  it,  upon  the  little  band  whose  seed  here- 
after was  to  be  as  the  sands  of  the  shore. 

I  was  glad  when  the  women  silenced  their  noise,  perhaps 
ashamed  of  themselves,  or  curious  to  watch  the  worshipers, 
or  knowing  no  more  hymns.  I  hated  Brigstock,  but  all  the 
same  I  said  amen  along  with  the  rest  of  them  at  the  end  of 
his  prayers. 

They  spent  an  hour  thus,  many  of  the  women  creeping  in 
twos  and  threes  aft,  nearer  and  nearer  to  hearken,  then  sitting 
down  and  joining  in  the  worship.  It  ended  in  Brigstock 
looking  round  him  and  saying  : 

"  Capt'n,  my  lads,  and  ladies,  you  that  are  of  us,  and  you 
that  are  simply  a-listening,  here's  the  first  of  some  verses  as  I 
learnt  when  I  was  a  boy,  which  I  can't  tell  jer  the  music  of. 
I've  altered  some  words  to  suit  this  occasion.  If  yer  please, 
we'll  sing  it  to  the  hair  of  '  So  farey  well,  my  pretty  young 


MY  GIRL  CREW.  253 

gell  ! '"     And  in  his  deep  voice  he  recited  the  following  lines, 
delivering  them  as  solemnly  as  he  had  read  prayers  : 

"  Oh,  we  are  the  partners  what  sails  the  deep, 

Hurrah,  my  boys  !     Hurrah,  my  girls  ! 
The  Lord's  heye's  on  us  awake  or  asleep, 

Hurrah,  my  boys  !     Good-by,  fare  yer  well ! 
We'll  sing  to  his  glory  as  on  we  sails, 

Hurrah,  my  boys  !     Hurrah,  my  girls  ! 
For  he's  our  Capt'n   in  calms  and  in  gales. 

Hurrah,  my  boys,  we're  homeward  bound ! " 

The  sailors  sang  these  words  to  the  famous  windlass  chantey, 
with  deep  enjoyment  of  the  melody,  and  not  their  partners 
only,  but  many  other  women  swelled  the  chorus. 

Throughout  stout-hearted  Susannah  Corbin  held  the  ship 
steady  to  her  course. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

MY    GIRL    CREW. 

THIS  same  Sunday  night  it  came  on  to  blow  in  the  middle 
watch;  it  was  the  first  of  a  spell  of  as  heavy  weather  as  ever  I 
can  remember.  We  snugged  down  to  a  close-reefed  main  top- 
sail and  storm  trysail ;  and,  under  these  and  the  fore  topmast 
staysail,  the  ship,  with  her  fore  and  after  yards  braced  aback, 
her  rigging  blowing  out,  her  decks  full  of  water,  pitched  and 
rolled,  surging  in  thunderous  heaves  to  windward  to  the 
under-rush  of  the  boiling  steep,  then  sloping  to  leeward  till  it 
was  all  roaring  froth  to  the  shear-poles.  Sometimes  we  got  a 
slant  and  braced  away  for  a  run,  but  again  and  yet  again  we 
had  to  heave  her  to. 

A  gale  at  sea  is  abominable  at  any  time,  but  unspeakably  so 
when  you  are  on  board  a  ship  full  of  women.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  keep  the  girls  battened  down.  Yet  the  hatches  had  to 
be  on  if  the  ship  was  not  to  fill  and  founder. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  lull  after  the  women  had  been  impris- 
oned for  many  hours,  I  went  below  to  see  how  things  fared 
there.  The  atmosphere  was  poisonous.  It  was  wonderful  the 
lantern  did  not  bum  blue.  A  dark,  dismal,  miserable  picture: 
figures  stretched  helplessly  about  on  the  decks  or  on  the 
shelves;  benches,  mess  utensils,  and  the  like  rushing  and 
plunging  from  side  to  side  over  the  planks,  with  the  swift  and 
frenzied  heaving  of  the  ship;  creakings  and  strainings  furious 
as  the  noises  of  a  battlefield,  terrific  to  the  imprisoned  ears 


254  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

with  the  volcanic  shock  of  the  smiting  surge  bursting  against 
the  side,  or  falling  in  tons  overhead. 

There  was  but  one  remedy.  The  women  were  not  to  be 
stifled — especially  Kate— so  I  brought  the  whole  blessed  lot  of 
them,  eighty-nine  in  all,  now  that  Mary  Lonney  had  cut  her 
throat,  not  counting  Miss  Cobbs — I  brought  the  whole  lot  of 
them,  I  say,  into  the  cuddy,  and  there  they  lived  for  some 
days  of  tempest,  sleeping  upon  their  own  bedding  on  the  cabin 
deck,  and  eating  at  the  table  of  such  food  as  could  be  served 
without  fire;  for  the  galley  had  been  thrice  washed  out,  and 
Wambold  nearly  killed  by  a  sea  that  dashed  him  against  the 
bulwarks,  and  left  him  stranded  and  unconscious  under  the 
longboat. 

Many  of  the  women  were  shockingly  seasick,  Miss  Cobbs 
horribly  so.  I  see  her  now  sitting  at  the  table  leaning  her 
thin  chin  in  her  hands,  speechless  with  nausea,  her  sausage 
decorations  out  of  curl,  and  Brigstock  opposite,  fresh  from  the 
deck,  in  a  streaming  coat,  and  white-eyed  with  dried  brine, 
extending  a  pannikin  of  rum,  and  begging  her,  in  his  deep, 
serious  voice,  to  drain  it  down,  as  it  was  more  settling  than 
brandy.  I  made  Kate  take  my  cabin,  and  she  shared  it  with 
five  of  the  most  delicate  among  the  girls,  three  being  govern- 
esses, and,  like  Kate,  gentlewomen. 

After  several  days  of  this  sort  of  thing,  all  wool-white  cliffs 
below  straining  and  curling  with  the  gale,  all  wet,  flying  shadow 
on  high,  with  never  more  than  a  sulphur-colored  break  where 
it  wasn't  raining  for  one  minute;  the  wind  flew  into  the  north, 
the  weather  cleared,  and  a  few  hours  later  the  ship  was  going 
before  it  with  dark  mastheaded  topsails,  and  lifting  fore  course, 
and  main  topgallant  sail  still  wrinkled  with  the  long  grip  of  the 
gaskets;  the  sun  sparkling  in  the  northwest,  a  huge  foam- 
freckled  swell  of  the  sea  in  chase,  and  a  large  albatross  hang- 
ing over  the  wide  race  of  wake;  the  decks  already  dry;  the 
watch  below  spreading  their  wet  togs  on  the  forecastle;  the 
main  hatch  open,  and  a  dozen  women  about  the  decks  holding 
on  and  watching  the  majestic  blue  folds  sweeping  past  the  ship 
to  midway  the  height  of  the  lower  rigging. 

Well,  that  albatross  might  have  told  them  the  Southern 
Cross  was  now  a  nightly  show,  and  that  we  could  think  of  the 
Horn  as  a  thing  no  longer  remote. 

When  I  went  on  deck  to  get  an  observation  of  the  sun  on  this 
day,  Joe  Harding,  whose  face  looked  more  than  commonly 
sour  in  its  setting  of  narrow  thatched  sou'wester,  said  to  me, 
while  I  stood  beside  him  to  look  at  the  ship  as  she  went  rolling 
over  the  prodigious  heave  left  by  the  gale: 


MY  GIRL   CREW.  255 

"Them  sailors  o'  yourn,  sir,  han't  been  of  much  use  since  it 
came  on  to  blow." 

".As  useful  as  the  rest  of  you.     Nothing  wanted  doing." 

"They'd  ha'  made  a  tidy  show  aloft  a-reefing!"  said  he, 
with  an  acid  look  at  the  topsail  yard. 

"There's  to  be  no  reefing  for  them  this  side  of  the  Horn,  I 
told  you." 

"They'll  go  up  for  good,  I  allow,"  said  he,  "afore  they 
goes  up  at  all." 

You  be  hung!  I  thought  to  myself,  turning  from  him;  but 
he  had  put  a  thought  into  my  head,  and  next  day  I  carried 
it  out. 

It  was  fine  enough  to  enable  me  to  do  so.  All  weight  had 
gone  out  of  the  run  of  the  sea  in  the  night,  and  at  eight  in  the 
morning  the  ship  was  thrusting  through  it  at  about  seven;  the 
port  fore  topmast  studding  sail  set,  the  wind  cold  and  bright, 
something  to  the  south  of  east,  with  three  sails  close  together 
on  the  horizon,  glittering  icily  under  the  sun,  and  the  ship 
forward  like  a  laundry  drying  ground. 

Once  again  in  my  cabin  I  had  overhauled  the  ship's  papers; 
and,  having  clearly  ascertained  what  I  wanted  to  know,  I  said 
to  Brigstock  after  breakfast,  when  I  went  on  deck: 

"Where's  the  lading  of  clothing  stowed  in  this  ship,  do  you 
know?" 

"They're  a  light  cargo,  and  '11  be  on  top,  anyhow.  Jer 
dorn't  dig  to  a  vessel's  dunnage  for  jackets  and  vests." 

"Forward  or  aft?" 

"Aft,  I  should  think,  sir." 

"Well,  then,  Mr.  Brigstock,  whether  forward  or  aft,  a  bale 
or  two  of  men's  clothes  must  be  come  at,  so  send  a  couple  of 
hands  into  the  hold — down  aft  to  start  with." 

He  hailed  the  fore  part  of  the  ship  and  gave  the  necessary 
instructions  in  his  deep,  preaching  voice,  leaning  over  the  rail 
to  speak  to  the  men. 

While  I  paced  the  poop,  Kate  came  aft  with  Perry  to  give 
her  a  lesson  on  the  pipe,  and  presently  the  wind  was  merry 
with  the  silver  whistling;  than  which  there  is  no  gayer  sound, 
and  no  better  music  in  the  wide  world  unto  which  to  wed  the 
poem  of  a  ship,  whether  it  blows  hard  and  the  boatswain  is 
hoarsely  bawling,  or  whether  it  is  a  gentle  and  a  springlike 
scene  of  ocean  as  this  morning  was,  with  the  sunshine  raining 
upon  the  breasts  of  canvas  till,  looking  off  the  leeches  of  the 
sails,  you  see  the  overflow  of  light  trembling  into  the  blue 
air  in  a  silver  sheen,  lovely  and  wonderful,  a  miracle  of  deli- 
cate reflection. 


256  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I  stopped  the  piping  to  talk  to  Kate,  and  to  promise  Alice 
Perry  that  our  sailor  classes  would  start  afresh  soon.  While  I 
was  talking  earnestly  and  apart  with  Kate,  Brigstock  came  to 
tell  me  that  the  men  had  found  the  clothing  in  the  after  hold, 
and  had  got  several  bales  up.  Where  were  they  to  be  put? 
In  the  cuddy,  said  I,  and  after  a  little  left  Kate  and  the  other 
to  go  on  with  their  piping,  and  went  below. 

The  men  had  brought  up  four  large  bales  of  wearing 
apparel.  These,  I  believe,  were  consignments  from  the  Colo- 
nization Society:  I'm  not  sure.  They  were  stitched  like  wool 
bales.  I  sliced  through  a  short  length  of  stitching  and  found 
the  contents  female  apparel.  But  the  next  was  men's,  and  I 
noted  the  marks;  a  diamond  for  men's,  and  a  cross  with  a 
letter  over  it  for  women's. 

Gouger  entered  the  cabin  just  then,  and  I  told  him  to  shut 
the  door  and  help  me.  In  fact,  the  curiosity  of  the  women 
was  so  great  that,  on  catching  sight  of  me  in  the  cuddy  stoop- 
ing over  three  or  four  big  bales,  forty  or  fifty  were  already 
crowding  about  the  front,  making  deadlights  for  the  windows 
with  their  heads,  and  elbowing  one  another  through  the  door. 

I  made  Gouger  hold  up  the  articles  of  clothing  as  I  pulled 
them  out  of  the  bales.  In  a  short  time  this  end  of  the  interior 
looked  like  a  cheap  outfitter's  shop;  with  trousers,  caps,  waist- 
coats, and  such  things.  The  coats  were  mostly  of  shiny  blue 
cloth  with  velvet  collars;  I  pulled  many  velvet  waistcoats  out 
of  the  bale.  The  breeches,  as  they  hung  from  Gouger's  lifted 
arms,  showed  of  a  flowing  bell  shape.  There  was  a  great 
number  of  caps,  both  in  cloth  and  fur. 

I  made  the  clothes  into  parcels — every  parcel  a  suit — and 
told  Gouger  to  fetch  Miss  Cobbs.  She  promptly  arrived,  with 
something  of  the  greenish  tinge  of  her  recent  severe  spell  of 
sickness  still  lingering  in  her  thin  face,  but  her  smirk  was  firm 
and  defined,  the  lift  and  fall  of  her  eyes  demurely  coquettish. 

She  courtesied,  and  gazed  with  surprise  at  the  clothes  which 
lay  in  little  heaps  along  the  deck. 

"I  intend,"  said  I,  "to  equip  my  ship's  company  of  women 
with  a  suit  apiece." 

"Indeed,  sir!" 

'  'Yes,  Miss  Cobbs.  Their  petticoats  are  in  the  way  of  their 
work.  Will  you  overlook  the  girls  while  they  try  the  things 
on?  They  can  use  these  cabins.  Everything  must  be  done 
with  the  strictest  regard  to  propriety." 

"Well,  sir,  I  can  only  say  it's  a  pleasure  to  sail  along  with 
such  a  gentleman  as  you,"  she  exclaimed,  sinking  her  lean 
figure  in  another  courtesy.  "So  different  from  most  ship 


MY  GIRL  CREW.  257 

captains,  I'm  sure.  Some  very  'orrid  stories  are  told  of 
female  emigrant  ships." 

"Nothing  horrid  shall  be  told  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  Miss 
Cobbs.  Your  partner,  Brigstock,  is  a  very  remarkable  person. 
Only,  when  you  become  his  wife,  make  him  wary  in  forming 
his  judgment  of  men." 

She  courtesied  again,  as  though  to  thank  me.  I  asked  her 
to  stay  where  she  was  and  receive  the  women,  and  passed  on 
to  the  quarter-deck,  where  a  large  number  of  the  girls  were 
assembled.  Catching  Kate's  eye  as  she  stood  near  the  hatch, 
I  beckoned  her  to  me  and  asked  her  to  whistle  "all  hands." 
She  did  so,  and  in  a  minute  the  girls  of  my  company  were 
hurrying  up  the  ladder  on  to  the  poop,  with  others  who  had 
caught  the  note  of  the  summons  down  in  the  'tween  decks, 
running  up  the  main  hatch  steps.  I  was  amused  by  the  inter- 
est they  took  in  the  work,  and  by  their  alertness  and  zeal ;  and 
while  I  stood  with  Kate  watching  them  flouncing  up  the 
ladder,  I  said: 

"What  would  they  think  at  Blathford  of  your  whistling  all 
those  girls  into  that  scramble,  as  though  you  were  some  god- 
dess with  a  magic  pipe,  which  you  needed  but  to  breathe  into 
to  set  everybody  leaping?" 

"I  find,"  said  she,  "that  this  pipe  makes  me  a  boatswain. 
I  thought  I  was  to  be  a  mate." 

"Whose  mate?"  said  I,  looking  at  her. 

"Why,  yours,  of  course,"  she  answered  ingenuously;  and 
the  significance  of  the  answer  then  occurring  to  her,  she 
colored  a  fine  red,  and  went  with  confusion  up  the  ladder 
after  the  other  women,  I  following. 

The  girls  stood  to  windward,  thinking  I  had  called  them  to 
drill.  I  pulled  off  my  cap  and  gave  them  a  bow;  I  observed 
that  this  punctual  salute  pleased  them,  and  said: 

"Ladies,  there's  in  this  ship  a  quantity  of  men's  wearing 
apparel.  It  will  be  impossible  for  you  to  work  in  the  clothes 
you  have  on.  I  have  a  settled  intention,  if  you  will  enable  me 
to  carry  it  out,  of  navigating  this  ship  to  Sydney  with  your 
help  alone.  I'll  ship  no  risk  of  destruction,  of  murder,  of 
crime,  in  the  shape  of  a  crew  of  men.  The  Pacific  beach 
combers  are  mostly  ruffians  and  scoundrels,  escaped  convicts, 
savages  of  a  bloodier  character  than  the  natives  who'd  eat 
them.  Nor  will  I  make  for  the  Sandwich  Islands  for  a 
Kanaka  crew.  When  we  are  in  sunny  quiet  seas  t'other  side 
the  Horn,  you  and  I,  ladies,  will  work  the  ship,  and  carry  her 
safely  into  Sydney  Bay.  Have  you  a  doubt  of  it?" 

"It's  got  to  be  done,"  cried  Alice  Perry,  quick  as  lightning. 


258  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"We  don't  want  no  more  men  on  board." 

"No  bad  'uns  anyway,"  said  Miss  Emmy  Reed. 

"A  pretty  lot  there's  on  board  now!"  exclaimed  a  woman, 
"and  yet  I  dare  say  what  with  their  snivelin'  psalm  singing, 
and  their  keeping  to  theirselves,  they'd  be  considered  respecta- 
ble men  for  sailors." 

Brigstock,  who  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck  listening, 
on  hearing  this,  delivered  four  or  five  deep-toned  notes  of 
laughter,like  the  opening,  hiccoughing  music  of  a  donkey's  bray. 

"Where's  the  clothes?"  cried  Perry,  coming  toward  me. 

"Ladies,  let  me  have  my  say.  It  will  be  necessary  that 
those  who  work  this  ship  should  be  dressed  in  men's  clothes 
after  Mr.  Brigstock  and  his  people  have  left  us.  I  propose 
that  this  morning  you  try  the  suits  on,  and  show  yourselves  in 
them.  It  will  be  what  actors  would  call  a  dress  rehearsal. 
Every  day  you'll  clothe  yourselves  for  drill,  so  that  you'll 
speedily  grow  used  to  the  novelty  of  the  garments,  and  lose 
the  embarrassment  which,  of  course,  I  expect  at  the  start  you 
will  most,  indeed  all  of  you,  feel." 

"Not  me,  I  swear!"  said  Alice  Perry. 

"Nor  me,"  cried  Fanny  Pike,  whom  I  should  have  consid- 
ered the  likeliest  of  any  of  them  to  hang  back  and  make  a 
difficulty  of  the  thing. 

"Nor  me — nor  me!"  was  shouted  by  several  other  voices. 

Some,  however,  colored  and  looked  shyly,  and  made 
remarks  one  to  another  in  low  tones.  There  was  a  great  deal 
of  giggling  and  headshaking,  and  "Oh,  I  can't!"  and  "What 
a  sight  I'll  be!"  and  "What  '11  the  sailors  say!"  and  other 
exclamations  of  the  kind.  Catching  up  one  of  these  sen- 
tences, I  said: 

"Don't  trouble  your  heads  about  what  the  men  may  think. 
They'll  stare  a  bit  and  grin,  I  dare  say.  Will  you  mind  that?" 

A  woman  snapped  her  fingers,  and  Perry  tossed  her  head 
with  a  contemptuous  shrug  of  her  shoulders. 

"But  the  crew,"  I  went  on,  "will  as  quickly  get  used  to  the 
sight  of  you  as  you  to  one  another,  and  find  no  more  to  look 
at  in  a  girl  with  a  man's  coat  on  than  in  that  mast  there. 
Miss  Cobbs  is  waiting  for  you  in  the  cuddy.  Those  willing  to 
make  the  experiment  will  please  descend  by  the  companion- 
way  yonder." 

A  rush  followed.  There  were  thirty  girls  in  all,  not  count- 
ing Kate.  About  twenty  fled  to  the  companion  hatch  and 
disappeared  as  fast  as  they  could  move.  The  remainder  stood 
talking,  giggling,  staring  at  one  another,  everyone  urging 
the  rest. 


MY  GIRL   CREW.  259 

"I'd  go  if  I  had  your  figure,  Miss  Halsted." 

"I  can't  abear  the  thought  of  making  a  sight  of  myself." 

"Just  try  it  once,  Miss  Hale,  you'll  make  the  prettiest 
young  man,  you  can't  think." 

"Well,  if  Margaret  Evans  has  the  courage  to,  I  ought,"  said 
a  girl,  and  away  she  went. 

Others  presently  followed  her.  Three  then  remained,  and, 
after  I  had  talked  with  them  a  bit,  and  pointed  out  that  the 
larger  the  number  the  smaller  the  embarrassment,  that  there 
were  hundreds  of  instances  of  women  passing  as  men,  that  our 
case  was  peculiar,  and  that  the  apparel  now  to  be  tried  on 
need  not  be  worn  until  after  the  crew  had  gone;  after,  I  say, 
I  had  talked  to  them  in  this  way  the  three  consented,  and  went 
with  blushes  and  titters  to  the  companion  hatch. 

The  women  were  a  long  time  below.  The  skylight  was 
closed,  and  I  heard  no  noise,  but  I  guessed  there  would  be 
plenty — shrieks  of  excitement,  calls  of  mortification  or  delight; 
thirty  girls  trying  on  clothes!  wouldn't  the  cabin  they  used  be 
clamorous?  They  had  looking-glasses,  too,  in  the  cuddy,  long 
slips  of  mirror  which  showed  the  figure;  small  wonder  they 
were  in  no  hurry. 

A  heap  of  women  watched  at  the  cuddy  front,  but  the  door 
was  closed,  and  as  the  girls  used  the  berths  to  dress  in  there 
was  little  of  the  fun  to  be  seen  from  the  quarter-deck. 

Kate  went  below  by  the  companionway  to  take  a  look  round 
and  report  if  any  of  the  women  were  at  a  loss  to  fit  themselves; 
if  so,  Miss  Cobbs  was  to  open  the  other  bale,  making  the  third, 
one  of  female  clothes  only  having  been  brought  up.  While 
I  was  looking  over  the  poop-break,  a  woman  called  up  to  me 
to  ask  if  nobody  but  the  girls  I  taught  were  to  be  dressed  as 
men. 

"That's  all,"  I  answered. 

"As  I  told  you,  Miss  Stokes,"  exclaimed  a  woman. 

"It  won't  be  fair,  then,"  yelped  the  other  snappishly. 

I  pretended  to  be  suddenly  engrossed  by  some  subject  on 
the  horizon  over  the  weather  bow. 

"I  wonder  what  Mr.  Brigstock  thinks  of  the  capt'n  a-dressing 
up  his  own  party  and  taking  no  more  notice  of  the  rest  of  us 
than's  if  we  was  dirt  and  slime  under  his  feet?"  snarled 
Emma  Marks,  backing  with  the  motions  of  a  recoiling  cat  to 
catch  a  view  of  Brigstock,  who  was  standing  to  leeward. 

He  turned  a  wooden  face  upon  the  little  Jewess,  and,  with- 
out heeding  her,  slowly  walked  toward  the  wheel. 

Nice  samples  as  servants,  some  of  you!  thought  I,  to  send 
out  at  the  public  cost,  and  be  kept  on  arrival  at  the  expense  of 


260  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  colony  till  you're  furnished  with  situations  you're  as  unfit 
for  as  you'd  be  fit,  durn  ye,  to  marry  costermongers,  and 
embark  on  a  back  alley  life  of  drink  and  broken  heads.  But 
let  me  be  just!  they  were  not  all  Emma  Markses.  Even  in 
that  envious  crowd  down  upon  the  quarter-deck  I  had  noticed 
countenances  almost  of  refinement,  with  one  fair  girl  on  the 
skirts  of  the  mob  looking  up  at  me  with  a  face, 

Like  the  milky  way  i'  the  sky 
A  meeting  of  gentle  lights  without  a  name. 

On  a  sudden  I  heard  a  great  noise  of  laughter  in  the  com- 
panion, and  five  women  dressed  as  men  rushed  out  and  began 
to  cut  a  hundred  ridiculous  capers,  dancing,  toe-and-heeling 
as  in  the  hornpipe,  hopping,  rolling  in  imitation  of  a  drunken 
sailor,  laughing  as  if  they  would  split  their  sides  all  the  while, 
with  Brigstock  beside  the  wheel,  and  Snortledge  at  it,  shaking 
and  rumbling  in  convulsions  of  uncontrolled  merriment.  I 
had  never  imagined  Brigstock  could  have  been  so  moved. 

But  indeed  the  antics  of  the  girls  thus  dressed  were  very 
ridiculous.  I  had  to  look  hard  before  I  recognized  the  little 
fools.  Their  clothes  shrunk  them  to  half  their  former  size ; 
they  seemed  mere  striplings  of  lads,  spite  of  their  swelling 
shapes. 

The  first  who  had  dashed  up  was  Alice  Perry.  She  wore 
a  fur  cap,  a  buttoned-up  round  jacket  with  a  velvet  collar;  and 
her  feet,  which  were  not  particularly  small,  were  almost  lost  in 
the  bell-shaped  foot  of  her  trousers.  She  had  piled  her  hair 
up  so  as  to  get  most  of  it  under  her  cap,  but  plenty — black, 
tossed,  wild  upon  her  brow — remained,  and  she  looked  the 
most  defiant,  saucy,  handsome  figure  of  a  young  sailor  the 
fancy  could  picture. 

Two  others  were  similarly  attired,  saving  that  three  wore 
cloth  caps,  and  had  been  at  no  pains  to  conceal  their  hair. 
They  larked  about,  squealing,  romping,  dancing,  never  heed- 
ing me  more  than  Brigstock  or  Snortledge.  At  last  Alice 
Perry,  arresting  herself  in  a  certain  extravagant  hornpipe 
shuffle  and  twirl  with  grace  inimitable,  because  natural  and 
unconscious,  cried  with  her  eyes  on  fire,  and  her  face  red  with 
merriment  and  exertion: 

"Aint  I  to  be  your  bo'sun,  capt'n,  now  I'm  a  man?  Tell 
Miss  Darnley  to  give  me  the  whistle.  She  can  keep  all  on 
teaching  me  if  she  will  till  I'm  perfick!  And  do  'e  say,"  she 
cried,  flashing  her  face  upon  Brigstock  and  pointing  at  him, 
"that  I'm  afraid  of  the  masts?" 

She  sprang,  and  with  astonishing  agility  was  in  the  mizzen 


MY  GIRL    CREW.  261 

rigging  before  I  could  sing  out;  up  she  trotted  in  defiance  of 
my  roars  to  her  to  come  down,  with  an  occasional  miss  of  her 
foot,  so  that  one  or  the  other  leg  would  shoot  through  the 
ratlines;  but  with  a  spirit  I  relished  for  its  English  daring  spite 
of  her  disobedience  and  my  fear  she'd  go  overboard,  she 
gained  the  futtock  shrouds,  squeezed  through  the  lubbers' 
hole,  and  standing  erect  in  the  top,  pulled  her  fur  cap  off  and 
waved  it  frantically,  shrieking,  "Hurrah!  hurrah!" 

Nearly  all  the  crew  stood  forward,  staring  aft  with  grins, 
and  that  look  of  stupid  delight  and  wonder  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  a  profession  that  sees  little  more  than  salt  water, 
and  is  therefore  easily  pleased. 

While  Perry  was  hurrahing  up  in  the  mizzen  top,  half  a  score 
of  girls,  breeked  and  jacketed,  dashed  up  the  companionway, 
laughing  at  the  top  of  their  pipes.  One  of  them  was  Susan- 
nah Corbin,  who,  the  instant  she  caught  sight  of  Perry  aloft, 
made  for  the  mizzen  rigging,  and  slapped  her  way  up  the  rat- 
lines with  the  nimbleness  of  an  old  hand.  Nay,  she  took  the 
futtock  shrouds  and  went  over  the  edge  of  the  top,  and  worked 
her  way  up  as  high  as  the  topmast  crosstrees,  where  she 
stood,  looking  down  into  the  top  while  she  called  out,  "Why 
don't  you  come  up  here,  Miss  Perry?  There's  out'n  away 
more  to  be  seen." 

"Come  down!     Come  down!"  I  shouted. 

The  rest  of  the  women  were  by  this  time  on  deck.  The 
poop  looked  as  though  a  boy's  school  had  in  some  magical 
manner  come  over  the  side.  Kate  alone,  of  the  women  aft, 
wore  the  clothes  of  her  sex;  no,  I  must  also  except  Miss 
Cobbs,  who  had  stationed  herself  alongside  of  Brigstock  near 
the  wheel,  and  was  staring  up  at  the  girls  aloft  with  her  thin 
lips  parted  in  a  little  yawn  of  horror.  Screeches  of  laughter 
were  perpetually  coming  from  the  emigrants  who  watched  the 
scene  from  the  bulwarks  or  the  poop  ladder. 

Indeed  the  transformation  was  more  extraordinary  than  lan- 
guage can  convey.  All  these  girls  wore  their  hair  as  before, 
and  still  they  looked  as  much  boys  and  young  men  as  though 
they  were  so.  The  oddness  lay  in  the  manner  the  clothes 
shrunk  them;  with  few  exceptions  they  seemed  half  their 
former  size;  some,  who  would  pass  as  fairly  fine  girls  of  the 
average  stature  in  their  gowns,  were  so  small  in  their  male 
attire  you  would  have  thought  them  as  easy  to  lift  and  run 
away  with  as  little  children. 

They  made  a  wild  confusion  with  their  laughter,  shrill 
remarks,  rollicking  airs,  and  graces  for  the  diversion  of  the 
main  deck  spectators. 


262  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

My  repeated  bawling  to  Perry  and  Corbin  to  come  down 
caused  the  general  attention  to  be  directed  aloft;  and,  greatly 
to  my  dismay  and  annoyance,  four  girls — of  whom  I  remem- 
ber two  were  Ellen  Clark  (who  wore  spectacles)  and  Mary 
Barker  (a  small,  pretty,  active  girl,  with  beautiful  chestnut 
hair  and  soft  dark  eyes,  though  with  a  broken  nose  that  put 
the  ugliest  profile  in  the  ship  upon  her);  four  girls,  I  say, 
sprang  to  the  rigging.  I  jumped,  seized  one,  and  pulled  her 
off  the  rail,  shouting  to  the  others  not  to  attempt  it — that  there 
was  plenty  of  time — that  I  meant  to  give  them  lessons  by  and 
by,  but  the  three  little  fools  persevered;  and  laughing  and 
squeaking,  and  gripping  the  shrouds  as  though  to  squeeze  all 
the  tar  out,  they  crawled  about  two-thirds  high,  and  then  came 
down  silently,  and  very  slowly  indeed,  feeling  for  the  ratlines 
with  extraordinarily  wary  feet,  watched  almost  breathlessly  by 
me,  who  expected  every  moment  to  see  one  or  another  tumble 
back  overboard,  and  deaf  to  the  impassioned  invitation  of 
Corbin  in  the  crosstrees,  and  the  taunts  and  sneers  of  Perry 
in  the  top. 

Those  two  came  down  in  a  few  minutes;  Corbin  as  though 
she  had  been  used  to  running  up  and  down  rigging  all  her  life, 
Perry  leisurely  and  carefully ;  for  to  the  beginner  it  is  always 
easier  going  up  than  coming  down  a  rope  ladder.  Corbin, 
when  she  gained  the  deck,  looked  at  me  with  a  hot,  exulting 
face  filled  with  a  demand  for  applause;  Perry  stuck  her  tongue 
into  her  cheek  at  Brigstock  and  then  shrieked: 

"Why  didn't  the  others  finish  goin'  up,  like  me  and  Susan- 
nah, to  let  the  sailors  see  how  'ousemaids  and  cooks  can  do 
without  'em?"1 

It  was  not  for  me  to  reprove  those  bold  young  spirits.  I 
had  never  for  a  moment  doubted  that  a  trained  band  of  women 
— numbers  adjusting  the  difference  of  strength  between  the 
sexes — could  work  a  ship  on  deck  just  as  well  as  any  company 
of  seamen ;  but  I  had  now  evidence  that  active,  spirited  girls, 
with  an  eye  fearless  of  height,  could  be  made  useful,  fine- 
weather  sailors  of  for  going  aloft.  More  than  this  I  had  not 
expected.  In  truth  I  had  never  dared  hope  for  so  much.  To 
carry  the  ship  to  Sydney,  working  her  from  the  deck,  with  big 
trust  in  the  summer  seas  of  the  Pacific,  leaving  the  weather  to 
work  its  will  with  such  canvas  as  it  might  compel  me  to  clew 
up  and  haul  down,  was  the  extent  of  my  dream.  Any  meas- 
ure, no  matter  how  impracticable  or  foolhardy  at  first  sight,  to 
the  diabolic  risk  of  shipping  a  new,  strange  crew  on  board  a 
vessel  full  of  women,  with  a  single  officer  in  command ! 

When  they  were  on  deck  after  Perry  had  shrieked  out,  I 


MY  GIRL   CREW.  263 

called  to  the  girls  to  put  themselves  together  in  a  body  to 
windward,  and  hold  their  tongues,  as  I  wished  to  inspect  them 
and  ask  a  question  or  two.  By  this  time  something  of  the 
first  blush  of  novelty  was  gone;  the  girls  had  exhausted 
mutual  criticism,  and  were  perhaps  tired  of  laughing  and 
posture  making.  I  bade  Kate  blow  the  familiar  music  of  "All 
hands!"  mainly  to  theatricalize  the  proceedings  into  the  best 
possible  keeping  with  that  sort  of  vulgar  taste  which  I  reck- 
oned upon  our  company  possessing.  She  blew  as  directed, 
and  then  I  bawled  again: 

"Fall  in  now,  my  lads!  Get  yourselves  together  there  to 
wind'ard,"  at  which  there  was  a  general  laugh,  but  they  all 
obeyed,  and  made  the  strangest  picture  of  that  poop  you  can 
imagine,  with  their  mass  of  thirty  male-clad  figures,  their  eyes 
black,  blue,  bright,  and  otherwise,  glancing  mockingly,  coyly, 
with  all  sorts  of  expressions  under  their  roughened  curls  or 
smooth  bands. 

I  was  at  no  small  trouble  to  keep  my  face  steady,  under  the 
converging  stare,  bright  as  light  in  some  parts,  of  those  thirty 
pairs  of  eyes.  The  girls  ranged  themselves  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der in  a  double  rank,  very  easily,  and  with  feminine  grace 
yielding  to  the  heave  of  the  deck;  some  few  were  shy  and  wore 
a  little  color  on  their  cheeks,  and  looked  awkwardly  while  I 
ran  my  gaze  over  the  lot  of  them,  but  on  the  whole  there  was 
nothing  of  the  embarrassment  I  had  expected.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  noticed  much  enjoyment  of  the  thing  as  something 
fresh  and  new — a  break  in  the  melancholy  monotony  of  ship- 
board life.  Then  again  their  vanity  was  tickled.  Doubtless 
there,  were  but  few  who  did  not  consider  they  looked  charming, 
and  it  was  delightful  to  be  envied  by  the  women  on  the  main- 
deck  ;  also  the  sailors'  grinning  countenances  and  fixed 
observation  suggested  enough  of  flattering  appreciation  to  fill 
up  the  poor  things'  measure  of  satisfaction. 

I  made  them  a  short  speech,  thanking  them  for  this  fresh 
instance  of  their  willingness  to  oblige  me,  and  assuring  them 
that  never  yet  had  a  captain  reason  to  be  prouder  of  his  ship's 
company  than  I.  I  told  them  that  if  they,  one  and  all,  but 
knew  what  a  delicious  crew  of  sailors  they  made  in  those 
clothes,  they  would  be  in  no  hurry  to  take  them  off. 

This  tickled  them  finely. 

I  then  inquired  if  the  clothes  fitted  them  comfortably. 
They  all  said  yes.  Two  or  three  complained  that  their  coats 
were  rather  large,  and  the  sleeves  long,  holding  up  their  arms 
in  proof. 

"There  are  scissors  and  needles  and  thread  among  you," 


264  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

said  I.  "You'll  be  able  to  make  your  clothes  fit.  Everyone 
will  keep  her  own  suit  when  she  removes  it.  Mark  them  for 
yourselves  that  there  may  be  no  confusion  and  misfits." 

"They  haint  yours  to  give  away  in  that  cool  fashion,"  cried 
the  voice  of  one  of  the  listeners  who  crowded  the  poop  ladder. 

That  they  might  understand  how  very  much  more  comfort- 
ably they'd  be  able  to  pull  and  haul  in  male  attire  than  in 
gowns  and  petticoats,  I  made  them  let  go  the  mizzen  royal, 
topgallant,  and  topsail  halliards,  and  hoist  the  yards  afresh. 
It  was  truly  an  extraordinary  sight  to  see  them  pulling.  Perry 
got  on  to  the  rail  to  sing  out,  the  rest  tailed  on,  and  then  to 
the  song  of  "Cheerily,  men!"  which  they  had  picked  up  from 
the  sailors,  they  mastheaded  the  yards,  one  after  the  other,  in 
strokes  as  rhythmically  pat  to  the  time  of  their  clear  girlish 
chant  as  the  lift  and  fall  of  the  oars  of  a  man-of-war's  man's 
boat. 

Brigstock  looked  on  with  a  wooden  face  of  astonishment. 
Some  of  the  sailors  cheered  the  girls  when  they  belayed  the 
topsail  halliards — a  note  of  involuntary  approval  that  proved 
contagious,  and  twenty  or  thirty  of  the  bulwark  and  poop 
ladder  spectators  screamed  a  round  of  hurrahs.  Miss  Cobbs 
alone  seemed  to  dislike  the  picture.  She  stood  beside  Brig- 
stock  with  her  arms  folded,  her  lips  sourly  curled  to  the  shape 
of  a  finger-nail  paring,  her  glances  darting  and  forbidding,  and 
her  thin  nostrils  wide  with  objection. 

I  thanked  the  girls  once  more,  and  requested  them  to  be  so 
good  as  to  go  below  and  change  their  clothes. 

"Mayn't  those  willing  to  wear  'em  keep  'em  on?"  asked 
Alice  Perry. 

"No,  if  you  please,"  I  answered  blandly.  "Each  will 
make  the  suit  she  wears  into  a  bundle ;  and,  to-morrow,  weather 
permitting,  you  will  bring  them  into  the  cuddy,  where  you'll 
change,  as  to-day,  and  we'll  have  two  hours  of  drill." 

This  satisfied  them,  and  quieted  the  few  whose  faces  had 
threatened  a  difficulty. 

They  ran  below,  again  making  a  great  noise  with  laughter, 
jokes,  and  whistling,  followed  by  Miss  Cobbs. 

"Well,"  said  I  to  Kate,  who  was  looking  through  the  glass 
of  the  skylight  and  laughing  to  herself,  "what  do  you  think?" 

"That  you'll  make  your  extraordinary  scheme  answer,"  she 
replied. 

"I  have  sworn  it,"  I  exclaimed.  "Once  those  fellows  are 
out  of  the  ship,  no  man  must  step  aboard  till  we've  entered 
the  Heads." 

"But  will  they  go  out  of  the  ship?" 


THE  HORN.  265 

At  that  moment  Brigstock  solemnly  stalked  up  to  us. 

"Capt'n  Morgan,"  said  he,  with  a  sort  of  slow,  brooding 
stare,  "if  jer  willing  to  reconsider  jer  decision  and  settle 
along  with  us  jer  shall  have  my  place." 

"Thanks,"  said  I,  smiling,  "but  I  rather  want  to  get  home." 

"Jer  an  abler  man  than  me,"  he  continued,  preserving  his 
queer  gaze,  and  speaking  in  a  voice  charged  with  admiration, 
but  of  a  dead  kind,  without  animation  to  give  a  turn  to  his 
accents,  "and  the  right  sort  of  party,  sir,  to  take  the  head  of 
a  young  constitootion.  How  jer  manage  to  make  them  gals 
do  what  jer  tell  'em  beats  all  my  going  a-fishing.  Only  Miss 
Cobbs  is  of  opinion  that  the  dress  you  mean  to  put  them  into 
haint  exactly  calculated  to  keep  up  that  helement  of  propriety 
which  you've  been  all  along  for  maintaining." 

"I  differ  from  Miss  Cobbs,"  said  I,  "but  respect  her  opin- 
ion nevertheless.  My  scheme  is  as  clear  cut  as  yours, 
Mr.  Brigstock.  It  wants  working  up  as  yours  did,  and 
Miss  Cobbs  does  not  of  course  forget  the  oath  that  you  and 
the  crew  have  taken." 

He  inclined  his  head  gravely,  and  left  us. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE    HORN. 

AFTER  this  incident  of  the  women  dressing  as  men,  the 
shipboard  routine  went  along  very  quietly  and  orderly,  without 
stop  or  break  worth  recurring  to,  till  we  entered  the  cold  and 
stormy  parallels  of  the  Horn.  Day  after  day  the  women 
habited  themselves  for  the  deck  work;  they  viewed  it  as  a 
diversion,  and  made  fun  of  it,  yet  did  so  well,  were  so  willing, 
nimble,  and  obedient — for  I  was  never  weary  of  making  them 
understand  that  the  safety  of  the  ship  rested  with  them,  and 
that  if  I  shipped  fresh  hands,  no  matter  whether  from  the  land 
or  the  sea,  I  stood  to  have  my  throat  cut,  while  the  ship  would 
be  walked  off  with,  her  cargo  stolen,  and  the  women  barbar- 
ously ill-used.  I  say  they  were  so  willing  and  learned  so 
readily  that  before  drill  was  stopped  by  the  bitter,  howling 
weather  of  the  far  south,  they  were  fully  equal  to  handling  the 
ship,  to  the  extent  even  of  five  of  them,  namely  Alice  Perry, 
Susannah  Corbin,  Ellen  Clark,  Mary  Barker,  and  a  girl  named 
Mabel  Marshall,  being  able  to  furl  in  very  light  weather  the 
mizzen  royal  (Perry  and  Corbin)  and  topgallant  sail  (all  five) 
while  beside  these  there  were  four  others,  namely  Elizabeth 


266  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Halsted,  Alice  Fitton,  Emmy  Reed,  and  Charlotte  •  Brown 
equal  to  the  task  of  "laying  out"  on  the  cross-jack  yard,  and 
assisting  the  other  lot  to  stow  the  sail. 

This  was  very  well,  but  it  will  not  be  thought  wonderful  by 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  marine  records,  nor  by  any 
with  knowledge  of  the  class  out  of  which  I  shaped  my  supple- 
mental crew. 

Brigstock  and  the  men  gave  me  no  trouble  whatever.  They 
went  about  their  work  soberly  and  decorously,  kept  to  their 
end  of  the  ship,  never  laid  hands  upon  anything  to  eat  and 
drink  which  they  had  not  a  right  to,  never  once  gave  any  of 
the  women  occasion  to  complain  of  their  conduct.  And  still, 
though  their  bearing  showed  the  influence  of  Brigstock  strong 
upon  them,  I  never  could  persuade  myself  they  would  stick  to 
their  resolution  when  it  came  to  the  point.  When  they  saw 
the  island  that  was  to  suit  them — a  smiling  land  if  you  will,  a 
paradise  of  an  island,  beautiful  and  romantic  as  that  spot 
which  the  passions  and  wickedness  of  man  had  in  those  times 
made  the  blackest  hell  of  on  the  face  of  the  world,  but  without 
a  house,  not  an  inch  of  manufactured  roof  for  momentary 
shelter,  nothing  stirring  but  the  flashing  breaker,  or  the  boughs 
of  trees  bending  with  the  soft  wind,  or  birds  of  lustrous 
plumage,  darting  like  beams  of  light  from  one  green  shadow 
to  another! 

I  never  spoke  to  any  of  them  saving  Brigstock,  and  once  or 
twice  Bull,  about  their  scheme.  All  that  the  former  had  to 
say  about  it  convinced  me  of  his  patient  resolution  and  rugged, 
rough  enthusiasm.  Often  when  we  sat  together  at  table  he'd 
enlarge  upon  his  project  and  tax  my  gravity  with  his  voice. 
He  told  me  there  were  very  few  ideas  he  meant  to  borrow 
from  civilization;  he  couldn't  see  his  way  much  further  than 
houses  and  ships  like  to  what  the  Europeans  build;  he  rather 
leaned  toward  a  post-office  as  a  convenient  institution  when  in 
the  course  of  time  numbers  should  render  it  necessary.  His 
ceaseless  regret  was  that  he  was  not  twenty  years  younger. 

"That  there  Christian,"  he'd  say,  "never  had  a  chance  of 
seeing  what  sort  of  a  job  Pitcairn  was  a-goin'  to  prove.  I 
allow  that  a  man  wants  about  forty  year  to  carry  out  his 
notions,  to  nurse  'em,  to  trim  here  and  correct  there,  and  so 
lay  what  I  calls  concrete  foundations.  Look  at  New  Zealand 
— look  at  Tasmania;  take  them  places  forty  year  ago,  and  see 
what's  happened  to  'em  since.  I  dorn't  want  no  money  in 
our  colony.  Let  all  savin's  be  in  produce.  Money  lowers 
men's  morals.  I  know  men  who'd  pick  the  last  flower  off 
their  mother's  graves  if  they  could  sell  it.  Another  notion  V 


THE  HORN.  267 

mine  is  this:  I'm  for  teachin'  my  people  to  possess  by  en- 
joyin' !  What  I  says  is,  the  man  that  enjoys  the  hobject  he 
views  possesses  it.  as  much  as  the  man  that  owns  it.  Take 
picture,  landscapes,  dress,  jools — jer  '11  find  it  true."  And  so 
he'd  talk,  assuring  me  that  among  his  other  ambitions  was  a 
wish  to  create  a  new  and  original  kind  of  civilization,  with  a 
little  leaning  toward  old  world  institutions,  such  as  a  post- 
office. 

I  was  long  suspicious  of  Bull,  however,  and  often  uneasy 
with  thoughts  of  how  he  might  conceive  a  sudden  aversion  to 
Brigstock's  project;  and,  by  talking  as  a  man  acquainted  with 
the  South  Seas,  bring  others  in  the  forecastle  into  his  way  of 
thinking.  I  was  resolved,  however,  not  to  keep  him  should 
he  change  his  mind.  No,  I  would  not  risk  the  having  even 
one  man  on  board. 

But  not  to  dwell  on  this:  one  night  when  we  were  off  the 
Falklands,  an  icy,  breathless  night,  and  the  ship  rolling  on  a 
large  black  swell,  on  going  to  look  at  the  compass  I  found 
Bull  at  the  wheel.  Harding,  observing  me,  went  to  the  for- 
ward part  of  the  poop.  Over  and  over  again  I  had  been  on 
deck  when  Bull  was  at  the  helm,  and  every  hour  had  provided 
an  opportunity  to  speak  with  him  had  I  chosen  to  do  so.  Yet 
not  till  this  night — it  was  between  eleven  and  twelve,  the  decks 
dark  and  still,  and  the  ship  filling  the  silent  obscurity  with  a 
fitful  thunder  of  flapping  canvas — did  I  think  proper  to  settle 
my  misgivings. 

I  entered  into  talk,  warily  leading  to  the  subject  of  Brig- 
stock's  scheme,  and  asked  him  if  he  thought  the  crew  had  still 
a  good  opinion  of  that  man  as  a  leader  in  a  project  of  colon- 
ization? 

"Yes,  sir,"  he  answered,  with  all  necessary  warmth. 
"We're  agreed  there  could  be  no  better  man  than  Mr.  Brig- 
stock  for  the  likes  of  such  an  undertaking.  He's  one  of  them 
men  there's  no  imitating;  when  he's  gone  up  he  draws  his 
ladder  arter  him." 

"I've  sometimes  doubted  he'll  get  all  hands  of  you  to  go 
ashore." 

"No  fear  of  their  not  going!"  he  exclaimed.  "I  reckon 
the  island  my  mates  now  call  Bull  Island  '11  be  the  settlement. ' ' 

"  You  know  those  parts;  the  others,  most  of  them,  anyhow, 
don't;  when  they  see  an  island  without  houses,  white  men, 
any  signs  of  civilization,  what  then?" 

"If  it's  my  island  it  '11  be  the  island  we  want,  and  it  '11  be  a 
bad  lookout  if  we  do  see  houses,  and  white  men." 

This  delighted  me;  something  in  his  voice  carried  conviction. 


268  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"What  will  your  partners  think  when  you  show  them  an 
island  without  a  roof  in  it?  They're  not  sailors,  Bull. 
They've  been  used  to  sheets  and  blankets  and  ceilings,  though 
of  attics." 

He  laughed  and  answered,  "We'll  be  having  a  village  built 
in  the  inside  of  a  week.  Was  you  ever  down  among  the 
islands?" 

"Never." 

"The  natives  build  their  cottages  oval,  'bout  sixty  feet  long 
and  twenty  wide;  walls  o'  bamboo  with  openings  for  light  and 
air.  They  lashes  a  great  piece  of  light,  strong  wood  atop  with 
sennit  for  the  support  of  the  rafters,  which  they  cover  with 
mats.  The  earth's  the  floor.  They  make  rooms  by  hanging 
up  screens." 

"You  know  all  about  it." 

"I  know  a  good  deal  about  it,"  he  answered,  talking  with 
some  excitement.  "You  mention  blankets  and  sheets,  sir; 
the  first  lady  in  England's  not  going  to  sleep  more  comfortably 
in  a  gilt  four-poster  with  silk  curtains  than  our  partners  on  a 
frame  o'  cane,  and  a  pillow  stuffed  with  sweet  herbs." 

"I  believe  that." 

"I  remember  the  master  of  a  vessel,"  he  went  on,  "telling 
another  down  at  Tahiti  that  a  native  of  that  there  island  may 
start  as  a  beggar  at  sunrise  without  e'er  a  tool  to  work  with, 
nor  a  hole  to  put  his  head  in,  and  afore  sundown  he's  clothed 
and  lodged,  out  and  away  better  than  thousands  in  England, 
better  than  men  earning  a  pound,  aye,  and  two  pound  a 
week." 

"How  is  it  done?" 

"Out  of  the  cocoanut,  and  the  breadfruit,  and  the  bamboo." 

"No  wonder  Mr.  Brigstock  values  you  as  an  acquisition, 
Bull." 

"I've  been  hard  worked  long  enough,  sir,"  he  exclaimed, 
with  some  feeling  in  his  strong,  steady  voice.  "The  chest  o' 
clothes  I  left  aboard  the  schooner  is  all  I  own,  and  that,  God 
forgive  me,  arter  more  years  of  man-killing  work  than  I  like  to 
think  of.  I  feel  like  relishing  any  sort  o'  scheme  that's  a-going 
to  give  me  ease,  that's  a-going  to  let  me  loaf  and  take  all  the 
sleep  I  want,  where  there  '11  be  no  skippers  and  mates,  and 
enough  to  eat  and  drink,  and  kind  words." 

"That's  about  the  fo'c's'le  view." 

"About.  Why  not?  A  few  inconveniences  at  the  start — 
what's  to  be  said  of  they  as  agin  years  of  wet  bunks,  years  of 
pumping  the  ship  out,  years  of  all  night  work  in  living  gales, 
and  food  that  dogs  'ud  give  their  tails  to?" 


THE  HORN.  269 

"You'll  be  making  me  in  love  with  your  scheme,"  said  I, 
with  a  short  laugh. 

"You  may  depend  upon  it,  there's  a  future  afore  a  settle- 
ment of  Englishmen  in  them  seas,"  he  said,  with  a  note  of 
Brigstock's  earnestness  in  his  voice.  "Yes,  an'  a  time  may' 
come  when  our  little  colony  might  even  see  its  way  to  exports. 
I've  bin  asked,  what  ha'  yer  got?  and,  arter  looking  into  my 
memory,  for  it's  some  years  since  I  was  in  them  parts,  I've 
answered,  'First  of  all  yer  might  work  up  a  trade  in  tortoise 
shell;  then  there's  cocoanuts,  and  cocoanut  ile;  yer  may  raise 
arrowroot,  and  ginger,  and  coffee.  Sugar  too's  to  be  consid- 
ered ;  and  for  what  might  be  called  light  industries,  there's  the 
making  of  straw  hats.'  " 

He  could  not  see  my  face,  and  for  a  little  I  stood  silent, 
shaking  with  suppressed  laughter. 

But  this  was  a  talk  mightily  to  my  liking,  and  I  continued  it 
for  another  half  hour,  starting  such  objections  as  I  thought 
might  occur  to  the  seamen  to  hinder  them  from  settling,  and 
listening  to  his  answers,  all  which  were  plain,  straight-headed^ 
and  satisfying.  I  recollect  I  asked  him  how  the  women  would 
arrange  for  clothes?  He  replied,  'as  at  Pitcairn,  Tristan,  and 
other  little  settlements.'  I  pointed  out  that  the  Bounty  people 
had  carried  off  native  women  to  settle  with,  to  whom  one  island 
would  yield  as  many  of  the  conveniences  they  had  been  used 
to  as  another,  but  that  the  crew's  partners  were  English- 
women, accustomed  to  clothes  all  their  lives. 

"Aye,"  said  he,  "but  the  descendants  of  the  Bounty  lot  were 
civilized.  Adams  made  'em  dress.  They  got  stuff  for  their 
wants  out  of  passing  vessels." 

"That,"  said  I,  "must  leave  you  dependent  upon  the  out- 
side world  for  clothes.  Should  no  ship  touch,  what  then?" 

"Well,  yer  see,"  he  replied,  "dress  is  one  of  them  things 
that  needn't  trouble  anyone  down  in  that  climate.  The 
natives  manage  very  well  on  tappa,  and  leaves,  and  feathers." 

I  called  Kate  on  to  the  poop  next  morning;  and,  in  a  walk 
that  ran  into  an  hour  told  her  of  my  conversation  with  Bull, 
and  asked  her  to  get  at  the  views  of  the  women,  because, 
should  they  hesitate  when  we  rounded  into  the  Pacific,  the 
men  would  be  discouraged,  and  the  scheme  fall  through.  She 
needed  time  to  manage  this,  for  the  girls  were  reluctant  to 
talk,  particularly  to  her;  they  classed  her  with  those  who 
they  believed  sneered  at  them  as  degraded  and  unwomanly. 

However,  she  succeeded  first  of  all  in  getting  hold  of  Sail 
Simmonds,  Prentice's  choice,  a  shrill,  hysterical,  saucy  girl, 
and  afterward  of  Weatherwax's  partner,  Maggie  Dobree,  who 


270  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

had  shipped  for  Australia  as  a  seamstress,  and  who,  with  her 
tall,  willowy  form,  white  face,  and  smooth  hair,  looked  the 
most  respectable  of  the  sailors'  choosings. 

It  was  three  days  after  my  talk  with  Bull  that  Kate  came  on 
to  the  poop  of  her  own  accord.  It  was  in  the  afternoon ;  the 
wind  was  fresh  abeam,  the  ship  under  single-reefed  topsails,  a 
clear  sky  astern,  but  over  the  bows  a  heap  of  Cape  Horn  stuff, 
sooty,  stooping,  hoary  at  its  ragged  edges  as  with  snow. 

Most  of  the  women  were  below;  they  found  the  deck  too 
cold  for  them,  though  I  had  drilled  my  company  for  an  hour 
that  morning,  and  the  mizzen  topgallant  sail  had  been  stowed 
by  Corbin,  Alice  Perry,  and  two  others. 

Kate  looked  charming  in  a  thick  cloth  jacket,  and  some  sort 
of  round,  tight-fitting  hat.  Her  eyes  had  the  sparkle  of  the 
ocean  brine,  and  all  the  health  of  the  sea  was  in  her  red 
cheeks  and  red  lips. 

"I've  come  to  have  a  walk  with  you,"  said  she.  "I've 
talked  to  two  of  the  girls,  Dobree  and  Simmonds,  and  think 
their  views  represent  the  others.  Simmonds  sees  things  as  you 
might  suppose  a  forward,  thoughtless,  and  not  very  intelligent 
person  would.  She  told  me  bluntly  she  wanted  a  husband, 
and  was  sick  of  service.  She  likes  her  man,  Prentice,  she 
said,  and  whatever's  good  for  him  is  good  for  her." 

"Did  you  ask  how  the  colony  was  to  clothe  itself?" 

"Yes.  She  said  ships  would  bring  all  that  the  wives 
wanted,  and  be  glad  to  exchange  fine  things — finer  than  any- 
thing she  could  afford  to  buy  out  of  her  wages — for  potatoes, 
cocoanuts,  poultry,  and  other  food." 

"It  looks  as  if  the  women  were  being  made  fools  of,"  said  I. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  she  answered.  "Ships  do  barter  for 
food,  don't  they?" 

"Yes.  But  the  vessels  likely  to  touch  at  Brigstock's  island 
won't  be  freighted  with  clothes  for  women.  There  are  no 
silks  and  satins  to  be  found  in  whalers'  holds." 

"Perhaps  Brigstock  says  to  them,  'Why  take  ye  thought  for 
raiment?'  and  refers  them  to  the  lilies,"  said  she. 

"They'll  help  themselves,  lilies  or  no  lilies,  to  a  good  sup- 
ply out  of  the  stores  aboard  us.  There's  stuff  enough  to  equip 
them  until  they  sicken  and  depart." 

"How '11  they  get  away?" 

"They'll  be  fetched,  I  fancy." 

"Well,"  said  she,  "I  thought  them  mad  at  first,  but  I  now 
see  some  glimmer  of  sanity  in  the  project.  The  girl  Dobree 
put  her  case  thus:  'I'm  a  seamstress;  I  was  born  at  Notting- 
ham, and  am  an  orphan;  and  for  a  long  while  I've  tried  to 


THE  HORN.  271 

'keep  myself  alive  with  my  needle,  but  I  assure  you,  Miss 
Darnley,  if  I  was  not  here  I  should  be  in  the  workhouse,  or  in 
my  grave  dead  of  want.  How  do  I  know  what's  going  to 
happen  to  me  in  Australia?  Mr.  Brigstock's  scheme  mayn't 
prove  a  certainty  for  us  women,  but  it  might  lead  to  better 
things.'  " 

"What  better  things?"  I  asked. 

"She's  romantic,  like  others  of  her  class.  'When  you're 
drowning,'  says  she,  'you're  not  particular  what's  thrown  you  !' 
Those  were  her  words.  'Brigstock's  scheme  is  good  enough 
to  float  by,'  she  said." 

"She  hopes  to  wash  on  to  a  land  where  there  '11  be  some 
sunshine  of  life  for  her  and  the  like  of  her,  poor  thing,"  said  I. 

"I  don't  think  any  of  them  suppose  Brigstock's  scheme  will 
last.  But  it's  a  change,  a  toy,  a  novelty.  Remember  who 
and  what  they  are.  The  sailors  are  their  equals,  and  good 
enough  for  them.  Wouldn't  they  keep  company,  as  it's 
called,  with  those  seamen  on  shore?  Suppose  they  were  in 
service,  and  the  men  hung  about  to  take  them  for  walks  of  a 
Sunday?  At  Bristol  three  servants  who  had  been  in  my 
father's  service  married  sailors." 

"Aye,  but  they  left  them  at  home;  they  didn't  carry  them  to 
an  island." 

"I  declare,"  said  she,  so  governed  by  some  instant  impulse 
of  feeling  that  her  fine  speaking  eyes  glowed  as  with  passion, 
"if  I  had  been  born  with  the  nature  and  instincts  of  those 
women,  used  all  my  life  to  the  work  they  are  accustomed  to, 
I'd  do  as  they're  doing." 

"Take  a  sailor  and  live  on  an  island  with  him?"  said  I. 

"Yes.  Anything  to  get  out  of  the  rut  of  life;  anything  for 
a  walk  of  one's  own,  though  but  a  footpath  that  wide,"  she 
exclaimed,  holding  up  her  ringers,  "so  as  not  to  be  bespattered 
with  the  mud  of  the  passing  carriages,  or  elbowed  into  the 
gutter  to  make  way  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snob." 

"Aye,  but  imagine  Brigstock  your  husband  by  virtue  of  his 
own  recitation  of  the  marriage  service." 

"Hannah  Cobbs  is  very  pleased  with  him." 

"He  is  good  enough  for  Hannah." 

"And  that's  what  I  mean.  Let  me  be  a  Kate  Davis,  and 
I'll  thank  you  for  Jackson  as  a  beau." 

"If  I  consent  to  join  the  Brigstock  lot,  will  you  be  my 
partner,  Kate?" 

"You  asked  me  that  question  before." 

"Will  you?" 

"No." 


272  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"Your  convictions  want  courage.  You  admire  this  island 
project,  and  refuse  to  be  of  it." 

"It  is  a  good  project  for  those  who  have  formed  and  are 
carrying  it  out,"  said  she  warmly.  "Those  girls  guess  that 
domestic  service  in  the  colonies  is  pretty  much  as  it  is  in 
England;  scarcely  better  paid,  and  with  all  the  difference  of 
thousands  of  miles  of  ocean  rolling  between  them  and  home. 
What  have  they  to  look  forward  to?"  she  exclaimed  bitterly. 
"Indeed,  what  are  the  hopes  of  the  most  sanguine  among  us? 
Their  best  chance  lies  in  getting  husbands  in  Australia,  and 
those  pardners,  as  you  call  them,  say,  'We'll  not  wait.  Here 
are  men  willing  to  take  us.  They  are  respectable  sailors,  bent 
upon  making  a  home  for  themselves  in  the  South  Pacific!' 
They  are  right,"  she  cried  with  a  flashing  eye.  "I'd  do  it  if  I 
were  they.  But  gentility  is  restrictive  and  depressing.  It 
prohibits  audacity.  So  I  shall  be  starting  as  a  governess  when 
those  women,  whose  choice  makes  you  wonder,  are  living  in 
pretty  bamboo  cottages,  according  to  Bull,  everyone  with  a 
charming  garden  of  flowers  to  herself,  her  own  mistress,  one 
of  those  few  lucky  ones  of  life  who  'having  nothing  yet  hath 
all.'" 

Her  temper  and  advocacy  amused  and  surprised  me.  But 
though  our  talk  left  some  features  of  the  Brigstock  enterprise 
vague,  I  was  at  all  events  convinced  that  if  the  crew  carried 
out  their  project,  the  girls  of  their  choice  would  stick  to 
them. 

We  doubled  the  Horn  in  the  midwinter  of  the  southern 
hemisphere;  but,  though  we  met  with  some  heavy  weather,  the 
passage  did  not  prove  so  formidable  as  I  had  feared.  We 
struck  58°  S.,  and  had  eighteen  hours  of  darkness  a  day,  with 
spears  of  ice  at  the  catheads  and  plunging  bowsprit,  and  more 
than  once  the  green,  transparent  shadow  of  an  island  of  ice 
close  aboard,  looming  through  some  brooding  thickness  of 
polar  frost,  and  motionless  on  swelling  hills  of  black  water. 

One  narrow  escape  we  had.  It  was  at  high  noon,  though  I 
have  known  some  moonless  midnights  in  England  lighter. 
The  air  was  dark  with  snow.  The  figure  of  the  lookout  on 
the  forecastle,  gleaming  like  glass  in  his  oilskins,  was  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  the  poop.  We  were  forging  through  it 
under  double-reefed  topsails  and  a  reefed  foresail,  just  looking 
up  to  our  course;  the  dark  head  sea  came  slinging  along  out 
of  the  flying  thickness  of  snow  in  sheets  of  steel;  the  surge 
smote  the  weather-bow  in  hurricane  shocks,  and  the  soft  gloom 
of  the  whirling  whiteness  trembled  with  a  frequent  flash  of 
clouds  of  foam  filled  with  darts  and  daggers  of  ice  which 


THE  HORtf.  2?3 

shrieked  across  the  deck  as  they  fled  into  the  smoky  thickness 
of  snow  and  spray  to  leeward. 

I  stood  beside  the  wheel,  turning  an  eager  eye  from  bow  to 
bow.  Prentice  was  at  the  helm;  Harding,  swathed  to  his  heels 
in  painted  clothes  and  sea  helmet,  stood  at  the  brass  rail  for- 
ward grasping  it.  A  true  picture  of  Antarctic  desolation,  that! 
The  bands  of  topsails  came  and  went  in  dull,  ghastly  glares  as 
the  ship  swept  into  the  olive  dark  hollow,  leaping  again  in  the 
next  breath  till  the  very  coppered  bilge  of  her  ruddily  streaked 
the  foam  of  the  rushing  surge.  The  scupper  holes  hissed  their 
fountains,  and  it  was  sometimes  up  to  a  man's  waist  down 
to  leeward. 

On  a  sudden  I  was  sensible  of  a  keener  edge  in  the  wind,  a 
wonderful  new  sharpness  of  bite  that  was  like  laying  your 
cheek  against  iron.  Harding  at  the  break  of  the  poop  looked 
round  at  that  moment. 

"Forecastle,  there,"  I  shouted,  advancing  some  paces. 
"Keep  a  bright  lookout  for  ice." 

As  the  words  left  my  lips  a  loud  voice  answered  me: 

"Ice  right  ahead,  sir." 

"Hard  up!"   I  yelled. 

Prentice  was  at  the  wheel;  I  sprang  to  his  assistance.  The 
ship  paid  off  nobly,  swinging  round  in  a  stately  sinking,  upon 
the  slope  of  a  great  green  sea;  and,  to  the  right  of  her  slowly 
circling  jib  boom,  there  sprang  out  of  the  hoary,  blinding  chaos 
a  monstrous  mass  of  ice,  an  island  that  looked  the  more  awful 
and  vast  because  of  the  snow  and  spray,  and  flying  shadows  of 
inky  vapor  which  nearly  concealed  it;  glances  only  on  high  of 
hard  white  crystal  projections,  abrupt  ascending  walls,  spear- 
headed pinnacles,  shapes  as  of  huge  couchant  beasts  seen  and 
lost  in  the  wink  of  an  eye  in  the  wool-white  whirl.  The  mass 
was  full  of  thunder,  which  smote  the  ear  in  hollow,  booming 
shocks;  I  guessed  the  weight  of  the  sea  by  that  noise  and  by 
the  mountain  of  spray  which  roared  backward  from  the  frozen, 
lifeless,  motionless  mass. 

In  a  minute  it  was  gone  in  the  smother,  but  such  a  peril  we 
had  no  mind  to  meet  again;  in  another  two  minutes  we  should 
have  been  into  it,  stem-on,  the  ship  telescoping  to  amidships, 
and  the  whole  life  of  her  going  out  in  one  great  shriek ;  so,  till 
the  weather  cleared,  we  furled  everything  but  the  main  topsail 
and  fore  topmast  staysail,  backing  the  fore  and  after  yards, 
and  left  the  rest  to  the  vessel. 

Yet,  though  on  the  whole  our  doubling  of  the  Horn  proved 
a  lighter  business  than  I  had  dared  count  on  at  that  season  of 
the  year,  it  made  a  bad  time  for  the  girls.  As  before  in  heavy 


274  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

weather,  so  now  I  brought  them  into  the  cuddy,  where  they 
lived  for  the  most  part,  sleeping  on  deck  and  in  the  cabins, 
though  some  twenty  of  them  continued  to  occupy  the  'tween 
decks.  Once  again  I  surrendered  my  berth  at  night  to  Kate 
Darnley  and  five  others. 

I  got  but  little  sleep;  my  anxieties  were  very  heavy;  I  was 
the  sole  navigator  aboard;  the  whole  safety  of  the  ship 
depended  upon  me;  and,  for  lack  of  officers  to  help  prop  the 
burden,  the  weight  was  crushing  during  those  black,  bitter 
days  of  the  Horn. 

The  weather  and  the  cold  miserably  subdued  and  depressed 
the  women.  I  see  them  now  in  my  mind's  eye  sitting  in  rows 
in  the  cuddy,  hugging  their  wraps  about  them,  seldom  speak- 
ing, staring  at  one  another,  scarce  venturing  to  stir,  so  desper- 
ate was  the  plunging  of  the  ship.  For  three  days  they  fared 
vilely,  as  indeed  did  we  all.  Wambold  came  floundering  aft 
and  told  me  he  must  give  up.  He  could  not  keep  his  fire 
alight,  and  the  galley  was  uninhabitable.  So  in  those  days  we 
got  nothing  hot  to  eat  or  drink. 

Once  Alice  Perry  was  seized  with  a  shrieking  fit  of  temper. 
She  caught  sight  of  me  as  I  came  down  the  companion  into 
the  cuddy,  and  in  a  yelling  voice  asked  me  if  I  thought  it  right 
that '  'us  poor  gells  should  be  brought  into  these  'owling  frozen 
parts  of  the  world  to  be  starved  first,  and  then  drownded  by 
being  busted  against  icebergs,  when  the  ship's  proper  road  lay 
the  other  way,  where  there  was  plenty  of  sun  and  smooth 
water?  If  it  wasn't  for  Brigstock  and  Cobbs,  they'd  all  be  in 
Australia  by  this  time." 

She  then  let  fly  at  Miss  Cobbs,  who  sat  nearly  opposite,  her 
face  pinched  by  the  cold  into  a  few  pale  blue  lines  betwixt 
her  sausage  curls,  the  back  of  her  bonnet  crushed  by  being 
repeatedly  knocked  against  the  bulkheads,  hugging  herself 
to  the  heart  under  a  plaid  shawl,  over  which  Brigstock 
had  thrown  a  fur-lined  coat  belonging  to  Latto,  late  second 
mate. 

The  girl's  passion  made  a  hellish  picture;  her  rage  worked 
in  throes,  and  blackened  and  convulsed  her;  her  screams  rang 
through  the  cuddy  like  the  piping  of  the  boatswain's  whistle 
she  was  now  and  had  for  some  time  been  wearing.  And  her 
fury  was  contagious;  fifteen  or  twenty  women,  one  after 
another,  and  then  all  together,  turned  the  hoses  of  their  tongues 
on  Miss  Cobbs,  and  played  her  with  the  boiling  water  of  their 
wrath.  Kate  and  two  others  were  reading  in  my  cabin;  I 
stood  looking  on  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  went  on  deck  to 
wait  till  the  uproar  ended.  When  I  returned  a  number  of  the 


MV  OATH.  275 

women  were  crying;  and  Miss  Cobbs  sat  bolt  upright,  looking 
as  if  she  had  been  frozen  to  death. 

Thus  we  rounded  the  Horn,  though  not  always  thus;  and 
Tuesday,  June  2oth,  found  the  Earl  of  Leicester 's  latitude  55° 
S.,  and  her  longitude  83°  W. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

MY    OATH. 

IT  was  a  Monday  morning.  A  light  breeze,  soft  and  sweet, 
blew  off  the  starboard  quarter;  lower  and  topmast  studding 
sails  had  been  set  to  hold  it,  and  the  ship,  with  stirless  wings 
and  on  a  level  keel,  and  over  a  wide  majestic  heave  of  swell, 
leisurely  rippled  onward,  the  sparkling  blue  of  the  Pacific 
around,  and  over  her  gilded  trucks  a  clear  heaven  of  azure 
dazzling  with  the  cloudless  morning  light. 

Two  girls  clothed  in  male  attire  were  at  the  ship's  wheel; 
beside  them  stood  Sampson,  whose  "trick"  it  was;  he  had 
relinquished  the  spokes,  but  remained  by  my  orders  to  con 
and  instruct.  Five  other  girls,  dressed  as  men,  walked  here 
and  there  about  the  poop;  they  and  those  who  were  steering 
were  my  helmsmen — seven  in  all,  namely  Alice  Perry,  Charlotte 
Brown,  Flo'  Lewis,  Katherine  Hale,  Ellen  Clark,  Mary 
Barker,  and  Susannah  Corbin;  their  ages  ranging  from  thirty 
to,  in  the  case  of  Mary  Barker,  eighteen. 

These  girls  being  dressed  as  they  were,  I  kept  aft,  though 
five  of  them  were  done  with  the  helm,  and  the  others  would 
quit  it  shortly.  But  the  truth  is,  though  the  crew  were  civil 
and  even  distant  to  the  women  who  were  not  their  "pardners," 
they  showed  a  disposition  to  chaff  and  take  liberties  when  the 
girls  were  clad  as  men.  Moreover,  the  cuddy  was  my  crews' 
dressing  room;  there  they  kept  their  male  clothes,  and  there 
they  shifted  themselves  before  coming  on  deck,  and  after 
going  below. 

The  ship  was  gay  that  morning  with  the  crowd  that  filled 
her  decks;  all  warm  apparel  had  been  stowed  away;  the  Horn 
was  far  astern;  the  temperature  that  of  a  warm  English  June, 
kept  cool  with  the  ceaseless  refreshment  of  the  salt  breast  of 
ocean;  and  the  women  were  dressed  in  cottons  and  colors  once 
more,  in  feathered  hats  and  bonnets  and  serge,  and  there  was 
a  plentiful  twinkle  of  Brummagen  splendor. 

The  galley  chimney  was  smoking  bravely;  they  had  killed  a 
pig,  and  there  was  to  be  a  fresh  mess  at  noon.  Kate  sat  in  the 


276  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

gangway  reading  aloud  to  a  listening  group  from  a  book. 
Over  against  her  to  starboard  sat  Miss  Cobbs,  in  company 
with  seven  or  eight  of  the  "pardners, "  with  whom  she  talked 
earnestly.  Near  them  stalked  Brigstock.  He  occasionally 
directed  a  thoughtful  look  at  me  when  I  approached  the  break 
of  the  poop,  and  his  air  was  that  of  a  man  who  waits.  A  knot 
of  sailors  gossiped  on  the  forecastle  head;  'hey  were  in  Hard- 
ing's  watch,  and  he  had  charge;  they  were,  therefore,  on  duty; 
but,  ever  since  the  Horn,  the  crew  had  done  little  or  nothing, 
save  handling  the  braces  and  making  and  shortening  sail.  I 
had  nothing  to  say.  I  was  not  their  captain.  Enough  for  me 
that  they  continued  sober  and  quiet. 

I  leaned  over  the  rail  to  catch  a  view  of  the  clock  under  the 
break. 

"It's  'arf-past  eleven,  capt'n,"  said  a  woman. 

I  thanked  her;  and,  turning  to  Alice  Perry,  told  her  to  pipe 
the  helmswomen  below  to  shift  clothes.  She  blew  a  shrill 
turn  very  neatly  and  quick;  a  pair  of  gold  earrings  would  not 
have  pleased  her  better  as  a  gift  than  had  the  silver  toy  she 
piped  on,  that  dangled  in  sight  upon  her  breast,  no  matter 
how  she  was  attired. 

At  once  the  two  girls  at  the  wheel  abandoned  it  to  Samp- 
son, and  the  seven  of  them  chatting  and  laughing  danced  below. 

I  followed  to  fetch  my  sextant.  All  the  while  I  worked  at 
the  sun  Brigstock  paced  the  waist,  with  a  frequent  dull  lift  of 
his  eyes  at  me.  What  does  he  want?  thought  I;  his  glances, 
his  grave,  formal  stumping  to  and  fro  in  one  place  made  me 
uneasy. 

After  making  eight  bells  I  went  below.  By  this  time  the 
girls  had  changed  and  were  gone.  Gouger  was  lazily  prepar- 
ing the  table  for  dinner.  I  passed  into  my  cabin  and  worked 
out  the  latitude;  and,  just  when  I  was  done,  a  knock  sounded, 
and  Brigstock  asked  leave  to  enter.  He  walked  in  slowly;  his 
manner  was  awkward  and  constrained;  he  held  a  fur  cap  in 
his  hands,  and  twisted  it  while  he  brought  his  dark,  peculiar 
eyes  to  bear  upon  my  face  as  though  it  gave  him  trouble  to 
look  straight. 

"Jermind  letting  me  know  where  the  ship  is  to-day?"  said  he. 

I  was  sure  more  was  signified  by  his  presence  than  that  ques- 
tion implied;  but,  controlling  my  uneasiness  by  swift  consider- 
ation that,  until  the  island  was  in  sight,  the  crew  were  as  help- 
less as  though  the  vessel  was  in  the  middle  of  a  shoreless  ocean, 
I  gave  him  the  latitude  and  pointed  to  the  ship's  position  on 
the  chart. 

He  put  his  magnifying  spectacles  on,  and  stooped  his  nose 


MY  OATH.  277 

to  the  sheet,  and  after  a  pause  said,  "It's  a-drawing  pretty 
nigh." 

"It  is." 

"How  fur  off  jer  reckon  it,  capt'n?"  said  he,  with  his  eyes 
upon  the  chart. 

"With  anything  of  a  wind,  the  island  should  be  in  sight 
to-morrow  afternoon." 

"  He  continued  to  gaze;  then,  with  movements  of  his  hand 
which  suggested  agitation  to  my  uneasy  mood,  he  removed 
his  spectacles. 

"Capt'n,"  said  he  in  his  level,  lenten  voice.  "Jer've 
acted  like  a  gentleman,  and  we're  obliged  to  jer." 

I  responded  with  a  sharp  nod. 

"And  I  think  jer'll  agree,  capt'n,  that  the  crew  have  testi- 
fied their  sense  of  the  hobligations  they're  under  by  acting 
like  men." 

"They've  acted  well." 

"They've  tried  ter.  I've  bin  a-watching  of  'em  closely  all 
along.  'Ticularly  Bull.  One  black  tooth  '11  spoil  a  set  of 
white  'uns.  If  one  fiddle  string's  wrong  jer  '11  find  it  a  job  to 
play  all  the  tunes  jer  want.  I'm  satisfied  myself  with  the 
men,  from  Bull  down;  and,  all  things  considered,  I  allow  I've  a 
right  ter.  Now,  sir,  I  hope  jer  '11  not  be  offended  at  what  I'm 
a-going  to  say." 

"Say  on,"  I  exclaimed,  plunging  my  hands  in  my  pockets, 
and  holding  the  deck,  so  to  speak,  with  a  firmer  grip  of  foot. 

"Jer've  acted  like  a  gentleman — I  dorn't  want  to  give  no 
offense." 

"I've  obeyed  the  Scriptural  injunction,"  said  I,  looking  at 
him.  "  'Whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with 
him  twain ! '  I've  done  that." 

"And  more,"  said  he  earnestly,  as  though  impressed  by  my 
quotation.  "Capt'n,  what  us  men  wants  jer  to  do  is  to  take 
a  hoath." 

"An  oath?" 

"A  hoath,"  he  repeated;  "like  to  what  you  read  out  to  us, 
only  different,  in  the  presence  of  all  hands  and  the  females, 
as  otirn  was." 

"You're  deuced  long  winded,  Mr.  Brigstock,"  cried  I,  in 
a  torment  of  anxiety  that  was  fast  heating  me  into  a  passion. 
"What  do  you  want  me  to  take  an  oath  about?" 

"That  if,  under  Providence,"  said  he,  in  his  deepest,  most 
deliberate  utterance,  "jer  '11  be  lucky  enough  to  carry  this  ship 
to  port,  jer  '11  not  tell  the  situation  of  the  island  jer  '11  leave 


278  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

I  fetched  a  deep  breath  of  sudden  relief;  was  that  all? 

I  stood  thinking,  with  my  eyes  fastened  upon  him,  then 
said: 

"Consider.  Suppose  your  partners  repent  their  decision, 
you,  as  much  as  they — the  whole  of  you  all  round — might  find 
reason  to  be  grateful  that  an  expedition  was  sent  in  search  of 
you." 

"No!"  he  roared;  then,  checking  himself  with  a  self-control 
I  envied  in  him,  so  quickly  it  worked,  so  powerful  was  the  will 
it  disclosed,  he  exclaimed:  "No  good  starting  constitootions 
to  be  broke  up  by  hexpeditions.  I'll  be  square  with  jer, 
capt'n.  The  long  an'  short's  this:  Me  and  the  others  have 
had  plenty  of  time  to  talk  things  over,  and  we've  decided  to 
help  ourselves  to  a  little  more  of  what  this  vessel  contains  than 
we  originally  proposed.  We  reckon  we've  got  a  right  to  the 
goods — what  Bull  calls  a  line  upon  'em;  a  legal  tarm,  signifying 
a  right  to  property  where  money's  owed.  Money's  owed  to  us 
as  wages,  likewise  on  salvage.  What  would  ha'  become  of 
this  ship  but  for  us?  We  also  allow — it's  Bull's  reasoning — 
that  we've  got  a  claim  for  the  saving  of  life.  Why  shouldn't 
we  pay  ourselves  out  of  what's  under  foot,  seeing  but  for  us 
the  whole  biling,  women  and  all,  might  have  been  at  the  bot- 
tom long  ago?" 

"True." 

"But  it's  more'n  likely  our  claims  won't  be  allowed  by  them 
as  owns  the  cargo.  Therefore  we're  for  asking  jer  to  take  a 
hoath  not  to  reveal  the  island  jer  '11  leave  us  upon." 

"You  had  better  compel  me." 

"Jer  '11  have  ter,  anyhow,"  said  he  with  a  grave  smile. 

"How  much  do  you  mean  to  take?" 

He  again  put  on  his  glasses,  and  pulled  out  a  piece  of  paper 
— the  fly  leaf  of  a  book — on  which  he  mused  a  minute,  then 
said: 

"We  calculate  our  want  '11  amount  to  about  this;  and  he 
read:  'Longboat  and  one  quarter-boat,  with  all  necessary 
gear;  such  hagricultural  implements  as  we  may  choose;  cloth- 
ing to  go  on  with ;  spare  sails  for  tents;  beddin';  carpenter's 
tool  chest;  chest  of  small  arms,  and  the  hammunition  we  may 
meet  with;  the  timepiece,  and  the  ship's  bell;  provisions.' 
Other  hitems  '11  consist  of  sailmakers'  stores,  along  with  a 
spare  compass,  and  the  likes  of  that." 

I  listened  with  exultation.  This  catalogue  made  the  island 
scheme  more  real  than  ever  I  had  been  able  to  find  it  since 
they  stole  me.  Then  there  was  the  feeling  of  relief  too,  for 
his  looks  when  he  stumped  the  deck,  and  his  coming  to  me 


MY  OATH.  279 

with  his  solemn  face  and  agitated  gesture,  had  frightened  me 
horribly. 

I  had  time  to  compose  my  countenance  while  he  pulled  off 
his  glasses  and  pocketed  the  paper.  I  then  told  him  I  consid- 
ered his  list  moderate  and  reasonable;  it  would  matter  nothing 
to  me,  I  said,  if  they  stripped  the  ship,  so  long  as  they  left 
enough  to  eat  and  drink  in  her  to  carry  up  seventy  or  eighty 
souls  to  port;  only  the  more  they  took  the  likelier  the  chance 
of  their  being  searched  for,  oath  or  no  oath.  If  they  helped 
themselves  in  reason,  under  the  circumstances  nothing  might 
be  said. 

He  answered  he  agreed  with  that,  and  no  more  would  be 
taken  than  was  needful  to  keep  twenty-six  people  going  until 
they  had  had  time  to  look  round. 

"You  talk  of  twenty-six,"  said  I.  "Will  no  others  than 
your  pardners  accompany  you?" 

"We  don't  want  no  others.  I've  thought  it  over.  Others 
without  husbands  might  lead  to  trouble.  We're  opposed  to 
all  chitty-chatty  as  the  French  tarm  it,  and  scandal.  No  use 
a-laying  on  gas  if  you  don't  want  to  burn  it.  Will  jer  take 
the  hoath,  sir?" 

"Yes;  and  I  wish  it  administered  as  you  propose,  that  there 
may  be  plenty  to  say  I  took  it." 

"This  afternoon?" 

"Eight  bells." 

"Aye,  aye,  sir." 

He  was  going.  "Stop,"  said  I;  "if  Bull's  island's  to  your 
liking  you'll  go  ashore?" 

"As  prompt  as  possible.  We're  not  for  keeping  the  women 
washing  about." 

"If  it  don't  satisfy  you?" 

"Then  I'm  sorry  to  say  we  shall  have  to  ask  jer  to  keep 
all  on  till  we  can  find  what  we  want,"  he  answered. 

Though  there  was  a  little  damp  to  my  hopes  in  this  answer 
of  his,  seeing  the  possibilities  it  gave  one  a  glimpse  of,  yet 
never  since  I  had  sailed  from  Bristol  had  I  been  in  such  spirits. 
I  whistled;  my  heart  danced;  I  could  have  capered  about  the 
cabin.  It  was  like  kicking  off  a  heavy  pair  of  boots  when 
you're  swamming.  There  was  distance  to  be  measured — I 
might  be  drowned;  but  oh,  the  momentary  thrill  of  lightness 
and  buoyancy,  and  the  joy  of  the  new  courage,  of  the  larger 
hope! 

Day  after  day  and  night  after  night  for  weeks  had  my  mind 
been  strained  by  suspense.  Would  they  abandon  the  island 
scheme?  Would  they  deliver  up  the  ship  to  me?  Would  any- 


280  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

thing  happen  fatal  to  my  own  consuming  desire — a  very 
passion  of  ambition  it  was — to  carry  the  vessel  and  her  crowd 
of  poor  passengers  single-handed  to  Sydney?  I'll  not  sham 
for  a  moment  that  it  was  all  humanity.  Certainly  I  hoped  for 
a  considerable  reward,  both  in  command  and  money,  but  I 
was  also  very  much  in  earnest  in  wishing  with  mine  own  single 
hand,  so  to  speak,  to  deliver  all  these  poor  women  from  the 
dire  peril  they  had  been  in  since  that  hour  of  Roll's  death  and 
the  captain's  blindness;  and  desire  was  also  sharpened  by 
vanity.  I  was  a  young  fellow,  and  liked  to  believe  I  should 
be  talked  of.  Often  I'd  smile  when  I  thought  of  myself  as 
being  looked  at  as  the  young  skipper  who  had  carried  an 
emigrant  ship  to  Sydney  without  a  crew,  worked  by  females 
only. 

I  don't  fancy  it  had  been  realized  aboard  how  close  the 
ship  was  to  the  place  assigned  by  Bull  to  his  island,  till  Brig- 
stock  took  the  news  forward  that  day  after  leaving  me.  He 
kept  with  the  men  and  did  not  join  me  at  table.  When  I  went 
on  deck  after  dinner,  I  observed  in  the  general  bearing  the 
impression  the  news  had  produced.  A  sort  of  quiet  hung 
upon  the  ship;  the  women  talked  low;  the  familiar  laugh,  the 
familiar  high-pitched  note  was  rare;  a  number  of  the  girls 
dreamily  overhung  the  bulwark  rails  with  their  eyes  on  the  sea, 
as  though  expecting  a  sight  of  land ;  I  saw  Bull  with  a  piece  of 
chalk  drawing  pictures  on  the  deck  abreast  of  the  galley,  some 
sailors  and  women  watching.  I  also  saw  Brigstock  carefully 
examining  the  longboat.  If  they  took  that  boat  and  another, 
they'd  still  leave  the  ship  with  two  and  the  gig,  which  they 
had  hoisted  after  taking  me  out  of  her. 

Kate  came  up  out  of  the  'tween  decks,  and  seeing  me  stood 
gazing  wistfully.  I  called  to  her  to  come  up,  and  she 
promptly  arrived. 

"What  do  they  want  us  all  to  assemble  on  deck  for?"  said 
she. 

"Has  the  order  gone  forth?" 

"Miss  Cobbs  has  made  the  rounds  asking  us  all  to  collect  as 
on  the  occasion  when  you  administered  an  oath  to  the  men. 
She  won't  say  what  for.  Perhaps  she  doesn't  know.  We  live 
in  a  continual  state  of  dread." 

''The  crew  intend  to  make  me  take  an  oath." 

"You?"  she  cried,  starting,  opening  her  eyes,  halting  in  an 
arrest  of  sudden  sincere,  fright,  which  whitened  through  her 
face  till  she  looked  as  sallow  as  a  nun. 

"Don't  be  afraid.  They  wish "  and  I  told  her  what 

the  crew  wanted. 


MY  OATH.  281 

"Are  you  sure  that's  all?"  she  exclaimed. 

"That's  all." 

"Well,"  she  said,  letting  her  breath  go  in  a  great  sigh.  "I 
had  made  up  my  mind  if  they  sent  you  away,  to  go  with 
you." 

"I'd  have  taken  you." 

"I  couldn't  go  on  as  we  are,"  she  cried,  "even  with  you  in 
command.  But  to  be  left  with  the  crew!  If  they  sent  you 
away,  I'd  go  with  you,"  and  she  set  her  teeth. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  I  made  her  mind  easy; 
and  we  had  a  good  earnest  talk  about  the  discipline  I  meant 
to  put  in  force  when  the  men  were  gone. 

All  this  while  the  ship  rippled  through  it,  under  one  unvary- 
ing pressure  of  soft,  sweet  wind;  aloft  everything  motion- 
less, of  a  moonlike  whiteness  against  the  blue,  and  a  streak  of 
water  alongside  bubbling  brooklike  into  a  narrow  wake  of 
feathers  and  jewels  of  foam.  It  was  a  perfect  South  Pacific 
day,  the  lazy  whaler's  ideal  of  weather,  when  there's  nothing 
to  be  done  but  lounge  over  the  windlass-end,  pipe  in  mouth, 
and  let  the  warm  wind  waft  you. 

By  four  o'clock  the  women  had  gathered  on  the  quarter- 
deck on  either  hand  the  capstan,  as  on  that  day  when  I  swore 
the  crew.  I  kept  Kate  by  my  side.  The  girls  did  not  seem 
to  know  why  they  had  been  asked  to  come  together  again, 
and  their  faces  were  constantly  rounding  my  way  when  I 
approached  the  break  of  the  poop,  walking  with  Kate. 

Someone  struck  eight  bells.  Brigstock  then  came  forward 
bearing  his  big  Bible,  and  the  sailors  walked  in  his  wake  as  in 
a  funeral  procession.  I  observed  relish  of  this  sort  of  thing 
strong  in  Brigstock's  long  face;  he  loved  the  ceremony  in  which 
he  prominently  figured.  He  came  to  the  capstan  and  put  his 
Bible  upon  it,  and  the  men  drew  together  in  a  group;  a  great 
crowd  of  women  on  either  hand  them,  most  of  them  staring 
up  at  me  with  looks  of  perplexity  and  fear. 

I  kept  on  the  poop  till  I  saw  they  were  waiting,  then  leisurely 
and  with  all  the  dignity  of  deportment  I  could  command,  went 
down  the  ladder  and  advanced  to  the  capstan. 

"What's  a-going  to  happen?"  cried  Alice  Perry,  in  one  of 
her  wild,  screaming,  ringing  notes,  leaping  from  the  starboard 
crowd  like  a  bent  band  of  steel  released,  her  eyes  on  fire  and 
fury  in  her  face.  "What  are  you  going  to  do  to  the  capt'n? 
S'elp  me  God!  if  there's  e'er  a  one  as  lays  a  finger  on  'im, 
I'll  knife  the  devil,  though  you  kills  me  next  minute;"  and,  so 
shrieking,  she  whipped  a  table  knife  out  of  her  pocket. 

Miss  Cobbs  screamed. 


282  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"If  yer  don't  fling  that  down "  exclaimed  the  seaman 

Luddy,  rounding  upon  the  girl  with  a  ferocious  scowl. 

I  was  at  her  side  even  as  the  man  was  speaking. 

'  'Give  that  to  me,"  said  I.     "They  don't  mean  to  hurt  me!" 

"I'll  be  sure  of  that  first,"  she  screamed,  wrestling,  amd  the 
knife  glanced  above  her  head,  with  my  hand  upon  her  wrist. 

"Girls!  girls!  shall  we  let  the  men  send  our  capt'n  away  for 
us  to  be  alone  with  'em,  now  he's  done  all  the  work  and  the 
island's  close?"  howled  Susannah  Corbin;  and  in  a  trice, 
amid  cries  as  wild  as  the  whistling  of  a  gale,  thirty  or  forty 
women  came  in  a  rush  around  me,  encompassing  Perry's  and 
my  struggling  figure. 

"They  shan't  touch  you!" 

"We'll  kill  'em  sooner!" 

"We  don't  care  what  happens — we'll  not  be  alone  with  'em." 

"You're  capt'n,  and  if  you're  sent  away  there  '11  be  no  one 
to  look  to." 

These,  and  fifty  like  cries  yelped,  and  yelled,  and  screamed 
all  together,  combined  into  a  continuous  stream  of  ear-piercing, 
soul-confounding  noise  beyond  all  art  of  words  to  convey. 
The  knife  fell  from  Alice  Perry's  hand.  I  stooped,  got  it, 
and  flung  it  overboard. 

"Silence!"  I  roared.  "Silence,  I  beg,  while  I  speak"; 
and,  putting  my  hand  on  Perry's  shoulder,  rearing  my  stature 
to  the  topmost  of  its  inches,  to  get  command  with  my  eyes,  I 
bawled  out  that  all  was  right — the  men  desired  me  to  take  an 
oath — no  mischief,  nothing  but  kindness  was  intended;  and, 
by  virtue  of  superior  lungs,  I  shouted  the  women  into  silence. 
Then  with  coaxing  gestures  and  repeated  assurances  that  all 
was  well,  delivered  in  tones  that  might  have  been  a  lover's,  I 
got  Perry  back  again  into  her  place,  and  with  her  came  others, 
so  that,  in  eight  or  ten  minutes  I  had  cleared  the  deck;  that 
is,  got  the  people  grouped  as  before,  and  once  more  stepped 
to  the  capstan. 

But  I  own  I  was  deeply  agitated.  I  trembled,  and  knew 
myself  pale.  Indeed,  something  bloody  and  terrific  in  ocean 
tragedy  outside  all  record  of  marine  horrors  had  been  averted 
by  the  very  dark  of  one's  finger  nail,  as  they  say ;  in  another 
minute  Perry's  knife  would  have  been  in  some  man's  heart, 
and  then,  oh,  my  God !  I  feel  sick  when  I  think  of  it,  after  all 
these  years:  the  sudden  loosing  of  forecastle  passions,  of 
passions  wilder  and  ghastlier  still  in  the  thirteen  chosen  females 
fighting  on  the  men's  side  against  the  crowd  of  women! 

Brigstock  was  as  pale  as  any  blank  page  in  his  Bible :  the 
seamen  glanced  threateningly  about,  as  though  fearful  of  foul 


MY  OATH.  283 

play,  hidden  knives,  sudden  murderous  surprise.  The  hush 
of  at  least  a  minute  that  followed  was  extraordinarily  impress- 
ive— not  a  whisper!  nothing  but  the  angry  breathing  of  the 
seamen  standing  near  me>  and  the  noise  of  the  rippling  waters. 

Then  Brigstock,  sucking  in  a  big  breath,  exclaimed  in  a  voice 
which  betokened  that  his  perception  of  our  escape  from  a 
business  that  might  have  proved  a  massacre  was  as  acute  at 
all  events  as  mine,  said: 

"Captain  Morgan,  yer  know  no  harm's  meant." 

"None.     Now  recite  the  oath." 

In  a  broken  voice,  his  breathing  labored,  after  putting  the 
Bible  into  my  hand,  he  dictated  an  oath  un grammatical, 
pompous,  and  confused;  in  phrase  and  construction  to  the 
verge  of  unintelligibility.  I  was  to  swear  I  would  not  reveal 
the  whereabouts  of  the  island  occupied  by  the  settlers;  also 
that  I  would  not  make  any  entries  in  the  log-book  calculated 
to  furnish  a  clew;  and  the  terms  of  the  oath  granted  Mr.  Brig- 
stock  permission  to  tear  out  of  the  said  log-book  as  many  pages 
as  he  and  the  crew  might  think  proper. 

Bareheaded,  I  kissed  the  Bible  with  all  proper  reverence,  and 
then,  addressing  the  women,  exclaimed: 

'%adies,  you  have  heard  me  swear  not  to  reveal  the  place 
where  Mr.  Brigstock  and  his  party  go  ashore.  Though  no 
threats  have  been  used,  I  am  glad  to  say  Mr.  Brigstock  will  tell 
you  it  was  his  and  the  crew's  intention  to  compel  me  to  take  this 
oath.  That's  so,  I  think,"  said  I,  looking  round  to  Brigstock. 

"We  shouldn't  have  left  the  ship  without  it,"  he  answered. 
"We've  a  right  to  warrant  ourselves  against  intrusion  till  such 
times  as  the  settlement  shall  become  too  flourishing  to  be 
meddled  with.  It  was  the  case  with  Pitcairn ;  had  a  man  o' 
war  lighted  on  the  mutineers,  she'd  ha'  taken  'em.  Long 
arter  the  trouble  a  man  of  war  fell  in  with  the  island,  and 
found  the  settlers'  descendants  with  one  original  mutineer 
among  'em,  old  Adams.  They  left  him  to  carry  on  his  duties 
as  father  and  magistrate,  and  sailed  away  impressed  and 
hedified  by  what  they'd  seen.  That's  how  I  mean  it  to  be  with 
us,"  said  he,  with  a  glance  at  the  crew.  "Not  that  we're 
mutineers,  God  knows;  but  the  little  we're  a-going  to  take 
might  lead  to  difficulties  there's  no  call  to  provoke." 

"Very  well.  It's  now  understood  by  all  these  witnesses," 
said  I,  with  a  flourish  of  my  hand  to  right  and  left,  "that  I've 
taken  an  oath,  under  compulsion,  not  to  betray  the  secret  of 
your  whereabouts." 

I  pronounced  these  words  clearly  and  with  emphasis;  then 
lifting  my  hat,  went  into  the  cuddy. 


284  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

BULL'S  ISLAND. 

No  reference  was  made  by  Brigstock  or  Harding  to  the 
scene  on  the  quarter-deck.  I  was  afraid  the  crew  would  fasten 
upon  Perry,  lock  her  up,  in  some  fashion  punish  her.  Afraid, 
I  say,  because  in  that  case  I  must  have  stood  forward  with  the 
prospect  of  bringing  about  vile,  heavy,  tragic  trouble  on  the 
very  eve  of  the  men's  leaving  us.  Nothing  was  said  or 
done,  at  least  in  my  hearing  or  seeing.  For  the  rest  of 
the  day  I  kept  my  eye  on  Perry  when  she  was  on  deck, 
but  never  saw  that  she  was  addressed  or  interfered  with  by 
the  crew. 

Indeed,  the  prospect  of  the  island  showing  next  day,  lay 
like  an  influence  upon  the  ship;  the  sailors  lounged  on  the 
forecastle  with  their  partners,  gazing  ahead;  Brigstock  was 
restless,  coming  again  and  again  to  the  compass,  looking 
round  at  the  sea,  going  forward,  and  talking  with  the  men; 
sometimes  in  passages  of  silence  I'd  hear  his  deep  voice  thrill- 
ing near  the  galley. 

I  need  not  say  my  own  anxiety  was  heavy  and  wearing  to 
the  last  degree.  I  was  in  seas  almost  new  to  me,  sole  navi- 
gator of  the  ship;  in  an  ocean  full  of  islands  and  shoals,  many 
at  that  time  uncharted.  Then,  had  Bull's  island  existence  in 
the  place  he  named  it  as  lying  in — seven  and  twenty  leagues 
east  of  Hercules  Island?  Or,  supposing  the  island  there,  yet 
it  might  not  suit  the  men  either,  in  which  case  I  was  to  find 
one  to  please  them.  And  how  long  was  that  to  take — with 
the  anxieties  of  a  perilous  navigation  attending  the  quest,  a 
hundred  lives  in  the  vessel,  and  vicious  threats  in  looks, 
deportment,  and  speech;  of  further  delay,  exasperating  the 
women  into  behavior  that  might  make  a  hell  of  the  craft? 

But  to  proceed:  the  afternoon  passed  quietly  under  the 
subduing  influence  of  the  general  expectation.  The  second 
dog  watch  was  one  of  ruddy  splendor;  the  heavens  of  a  burn- 
ing gold  westward,  and  the  sea  streaming  and  sheeting  in 
sapphire  out  of  the  east,  winding  into  gold  upon  the  horizon 
as  it  swept  to  the  setting  sun,  under  which  it  trembled,  glori- 
ous as  the  effulgence  it  mirrored.  The  breeze  of  the  day  still 
blew,  soft  and  sweet  as  the  air  of  the  seashore  where  the 
smell  of  brine  blends  with  the  scent  of  orchard  and  meadow; 
and  the  ship,  with  wings  of  studding  sail  stretching  far  beyond 
the  yardarms,  floated  northwest  with  the  sunset  before  eight 


BULL'S  ISLAND.  285 

bells,  dimming  on  the  port  bow,  and  the  sky  darkened  into 
starlight  on  the  quarter. 

Luckily  I  could  count  upon  a  bright  moon  by  ten.  Before 
it  fell  night-dark,  I  ordered  the  studding  sails  to  be  hauled 
down  and  sail  shortened  to  the  main  topgallant  sail,  leaving  the 
mainsail  to  hang  through  the  quiet  night  in  the  festooning  grip 
of  its  gear.  When  this  was  done,  the  hour  was  about  two 
bells,  nine  o'clock.  The  ship  sat  upon  the  sea  like  a  shadowy 
fabric  of  alabaster;  a  long  sighing  sort  of  swell  ran  through 
the  dark  ocean  in  wide  breathings  abeam,  and  the  arc  of  the 
ship's  roll  was  scarce  four  times  the  diameter  of  the  moon. 
Until  she  rose  to  pale  the  firmament  I  had  never  before  beheld 
a  grander  play  of  meteors.  They  sailed  over  our  trucks  like 
a  legion  of  fireflies  running  athwart  one  another's  hawse;  the 
stars  sparkled  placidly  and  blandly  above  them,  and,  at  our 
mizzen  peak  end,  poised  there  as  though  by  the  signal  halliards, 
hung  that  vastly  over-estimated  jewel  of  the  south,  the 
Southern  Cross. 

Although  I  had  no  reason  to  suppose  we  were  near  any  shoal 
or  land  invisible  by  such  starshine  as  we  had,  or  by  such 
moonshine  as  was  to  come,  I  nevertheless  told  Brigstock  to 
get  a  cast  of  the  lead  from  time  to  time.  I  had  heard  of  low 
coral  islands  in  these  seas,  like  a  fleet  at  anchor,  through  your 
seeing  nothing  but  trees,  which  come  and  go  as  the  vessel 
pitches.  To  be  sure  there  was  no  magic  in  the  lead  to  provide 
against  running  foul  of  some  steep-to  concern  of  that  sort,  and 
still  I  ordered  Brigstock  to  get  a  cast  from  time  to  time. 

I  was  also  careful  to  keep  the  log  going.  Under  reduced 
canvas  at  nine  o'clock  the  ship  was  passing  through  the  water 
at  five  and  a  half;  the  green  fire  burned  in  the  holes  of  her 
furrow,  and  very  steady  on  our  quarter,  within  pistol-shot, 
back  fin  clear,  floated  at  the  exact  speed  of  the  ship  a  large 
phosphorescent  shape  of  shark — big  as  a  grampus  he  looked 
in  his  husk  of  luminous  mist. 

The  women  hung  about  the  decks  till  a  late  hour  this  night; 
they  were  too  restless  and  excited  to  turn  in  at  the  usual  hour. 
I  called  a  number  of  them  up  to  look  at  the  wonderful  picture 
the  shark  made.  Among  these  were  many  of  my  crew ;  and 
they  liked  this  part  of  the  deck  so  well  I  would  not  suffer 
Mr.  Harding,  who  had  charge  till  midnight,  to  order  them  off. 

When  the  moon  rose  and  shone  white,  making  ivory  of  the 
decks,  with  the  shadows  of  the  rigging  in  every  trance  betwixt 
the  rolls  looking  like  ebony  inlaid,  it  was  the  strangest  thing 
to  see  the  crowds  of  women  moving  about  the  main  deck;  their 
clothes  were  tinged  with  silver,  and  their  shapes  seemed  unsub- 


286  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

stantial;  the  only  solid  part  seemed  their  ink-black  shadows. 
From  time  to  time,  at  considerable  intervals,  a  voice  sang 
hoarsely  in  the  fore  chains,  and  went  to  pieces  in  twenty  echoes 
aloft. 

I  put  Kate's  arm  under  mine  for  a  turn,  and  kept  her  at  my 
side  for  an  hour.  I  was  feverish  with  thought,  and  it  did  me 
good  to  talk.  Was  the  island  where  Bull  said  it  was?  Would 
the  men  be  satisfied  with  it?  Would  the  women  shrink  at  the 
last  moment?  Would  there  be  recoil  in  any  of  the  crew  when 
the  spot,  repellent  in  desolation  in  proportion  as  it  was  appeal- 
ing in  beauty,  hung  within  an  easy  pull?  I  could  talk  about 
nothing  else. 

Somewhere  about  five  bells,  while  I  was  looking  at  the  wake 
of  light  under  the  moon — a  broad,  trembling,  glorious  breast 
it  was — I  saw  a  ship  swim  into  it  about  four  miles  off;  a  black, 
lean  shape,  the  sharp  of  her  sails  being  at  us.  She  was  prob- 
ably a  whaler.  It  was  the  first  vessel  we  had  sighted  for 
weeks,  and  I  looked  at  her  with  as  much  interest  as  though  I 
had  never  seen  a  ship  before.  The  sight  of  her  strangely 
accentuated  the  thought  of  land  being  near. 

Brigstock  came  up  from  the  main  deck  and  solemnly  pointed 
to  her,  while  she  was  still  under  the  moon. 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "I've  been  watching  her.  Pity  she's  not 
within  hail.  She  might  be  able  to  give  me  some  news  of 
Bull's  island." 

"We'd  rather  not  ask  her  for  any  noose,"  he  said,  his  long 
face  gray  in  the  silver  light.  "She'd  be  putting  two  an'  two 
together,  and  giving  in  the  report  jer  on  jer  oath  to  keep 
bark,  capt'n." 

"Well,  you  may  be  right,"  said  I.  "Still,  I  should  have 
been  glad  to  compare  time,  and  get  a  hint  or  two." 

"There's  no  fear  of  your  navigation  a-going  wrong,"  said 
he,  smiling.  "I  only  wish  /had  jer  eddication  and  science. 
But  may  I  ask,  sir,  if  jer  still  detarmined  to  work  this  ship 
with  women  when  we  leave  her?" 

"Yes." 

"I've  thought  it  over,  and  dorn't  see  how  it's  to  answer." 

"Remove  your  thirteen  partners, "  said  I,  pointing  to  the 
women  who  lingered  on  the  poop  and  main  deck,  "and  still 
that  crowd's  but  a  little  smaller.  Now  consider.  I'm  aft 
here  as  the  only  officer,  unarmed  and  helpless.  It's  such 
another  night  as  this,  and  in,  or  on,  that  forecastle  there  are 
eight  or  ten  fellows  snipped,  no  matter  how.  Something  hap- 
pens— there  are  ruffians  among  them;  one  scoundrel  there  must 
be;  show  me  a  ship's  fo'c's'le  without  him.  Why,  Mr.  Brig- 


BULL'S  ISLAND.  287 

stock,  you  don't  want  much  imagination  to  see  what  I'm 
driving  at.  With  you  on  board,  and  those  twelve  or  thirteen 
fellows  yonder  tractable  and  quiet  under  you,  all's  well.  But 
when  you  and  your  party  are  gone,  I'm  the  only  man  in  all 
the  oceans  of  this  world  who's  going  to  carry  this  ship  to  port." 

He  stood  silent  in  meditation,  looking  along  the  decks. 

"Capt'n,"  said  he,  "putting  it  as  jer  have,  I  allow  you're 
right." 

I  was  up  and  about  all  night.  The  lead  was  kept  going, 
but  at  long  intervals.  The  breeze  blew  with  a  wonderful  soft 
steadiness;  never  so  much  as  a  puff  of  vapor  soiled  the  starry 
sky.  It  was  an  exquisite  night  indeed;  a  marvelous  sweet 
climate.  There  was  the  fragrance  of  the  moon  lily  in  it;  and 
often  I'd  fancy  a  pleasant  scent  in  the  wind  as  though  land 
were  near. 

Bull,  who  had  the  wheel  from  twelve  to  two,  asked  me  if  it 
was  strange  that  the  natives  in  those  parts  of  the  great  ocean 
found  a  bamboo  house  and  a  suit  of  tappa  shelter  and  cloth- 
ing enough  all  the  year  round  ?  Upon  my  word,  when  I  looked 
up  at  the  deep,  sparkling  sky,  with  the  moonlight  melting  and 
steeping  to  the  furthest  reaches,  and  tasted  the  soft  air,  and 
put  before  my  mind's  eye  such  another  island  as  Bull  had 
sketched,  and  then  reflected  upon  the  sort  of  homes  and  lives 
such  women  as  Kate  Davis  and  Sarah  Salmon  and  others  were 
fresh  from,  the  yearly  round  of  dull  hard  work  they  would 
have  entered  upon  in  Australia,  I  couldn't  help  seeing  some 
wisdom  in  Brigstock's  scheme,  and  its  acceptance  by  the 
females.  It  would  be  their  own  fault  if  in  time  the  settlers 
did  not  flourish  as  a  community;  enjoying  full  liberty,  living 
under  laws  of  their  own  making,  good  for  their  peculiar  and 
particular  state,  nurtured  by  a  bountiful  mother — unchallenged 
lords  and  ladies  of  the  isle  that  fed  and  clothed  them. 

I  left  the  deck  at  dawn.  Nothing  was  then  in  sight.  I  had 
scanned  the  sealine  eagerly,  while  it  swept  black  against  the 
lilac  of  daybreak  ere  sunrise  flashed  it  into  blue.  I  was  worn 
out  with  anxiety,  expectation,  and  want  of  sleep,  and  lay  down 
fully  clothed  in  my  cabin  for  an  off-shore  spell  of  twenty  min- 
utes. I  slept  a  little  more  than  an  hour,  and  was  then 
disturbed. 

"What  is  it?" 

"There's  land  right  ahead,  sir,"  said  Brigstock,  holding 
the  door  open. 

"Ha!" 

I  jumped  for  the  telescope,  and  was  on  deck  in  a  minute. 
About  two  points  on  the  port  bow,  the  wind  still  blowing  over 


288  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  starboard  quarter,  was  the  shadow  of  land.  I  leveled  the 
glass  at  it.  The  lenses  made  a  firm  blue  heap  of  the  shadow. 
It  was  land,  and  no  deceit  of  cloud. 

"Make  sail  on  the  ship,  Mr.  Brigstock.  Heap  it  on  her," 
said  I. 

Royals  and  topgallant  sails  were  set,  studding  sails  run  aloft; 
the  breeze  was  gushing  with  a  trade  wind's  steadiness;  the 
ocean  floated  like  a  lake  upon  its  own  long-drawn  cradling 
breathings.  We  hove  the  log  and  found  the  speed  six. 

"In  another  hour  Bull  will  be  able  to  tell  us  if  that's  his 
island,"  said  I  to  Brigstock. 

When  news  that  land  was  in  sight  got  below,  the  women 
sprang  from  their  beds,  dressed  themselves  in  a  fury  of  hurry 
and  excitement,  and  rushed  on  deck  as  though  to  some  loud 
and  fearful  summons.  It  was  the  first  bit  of  land  they  had 
seen  for  two  months;  and  they  crowded  on  to  the  forecastle, 
thirstily  staring  and  crying  out  and  exclaiming  in  notes  like  a 
noise  of  monkeys  and  parrots.  They  made  a  difficulty  in 
getting  breakfast;  some  of  the  mess  girls  refused  to  leave  the 
deck  to  carry  the  tea  and  cocoa  below.  All  the  sensations  and 
passions  of  the  voyage  might  have  been  packed  into  this  time 
of  waiting,  while  the  ship  blew  leisurely  onward,  and  the  land 
hardened  and  enlarged,  changing  from  airy  blue  into  silvery 
green. 

It  was  shortly  after  ten  that,  spying  Bull  on  the  fo'c's'le,  I 
called  him. 

"Take  this  glass,"  said  I,  "and  tell  me  if  that  land  there  is 
your  island?" 

He  put  the  tubes  upon  the  rail  and  knelt.  Expectation  was 
now  at  its  highest  pitch.  The  quarter-deck  was  a  surface  of 
pale  faces  staring  up  at  us,  that  is,  at  me,  Brigstock,  and 
Harding,  and  at  Bull  kneeling  and  looking.  In  a  transport 
of  impatience,  Brigstock  called  out: 

"Can't  yer  make  anything  of  it,  Tom?" 

Still  Bull  looked ;  all  the  fat  of  him  with  his  three  chins 
and  horse-rump  breadth  of  shoulder  was  in  that  dogged,  feed- 
ing gaze,  making  the  very  intention  that  held  his  eye  at  the 
telescope  as  massive  in  suggestion  as  something  heavy  with 
flesh.  Still  kneeling,  he  looked  up  and  nodded  at  Brigstock. 

"It  is  then!"  exclaimed  Harding. 

"To  the  littlest  blade  of  grass  upon  it,  smother  me!" 
answered  Bull,  and  he  got  upon  his  feet. 

Brigstock  pulled  off  his  cap,  and  looking  at  me  with  a  twitch 
or  two  in  his  lips,  his  black  eyes  expressive  of  astonishment 
and  respect,  exclaimed: 


BULLS  ISLAND.  289 

"We  trusted  jer,  sir,  and  jer've  justified  our  faith.  Capt'n, 
in  the  crew's  name  I  thank  jer,  and,  whether  she  suits  or  not," 
and  here  he  pointed  to  the  island,  "we'll  fore  and  aft  be 
always  for  allowing  that  it  was  well  done." 

I  thought  this  very  handsome  of  Brigstock,  and  thanked  him 
with  a  smile,  and  a  careless  assurance  that  a  man  must  be  a 
poor  navigator  not  to  make  land  when  its  situation  is  known. 
Nevertheless,  secretly,  I  counted  this  bringing  an  uncharted 
island  right  under  my  bow,  in  waters  unknown  to  me,  no  con- 
temptible feat,  perhaps  not  wanting  in  luck  either;  for,  had 
Bull  been  out  by  twenty  miles  I  should  have  missed  the 
place. 

"It's  Bull's  island  right  enough,  mates!"  roared  Harding 
to  the  forecastle. 

But  there  was  nothing  to  cheer.  Would  the  island  suit? 
It  was  that  which  worked  in  me  now;  and  I  knelt,  as  Bull  had, 
to  take  for  the  twentieth  time  another  look  at  the  silver 
green  heap. 

Approaching  it  as  we  were  from  the  southwest,  it  was  hove 
up  by  this  time  into  an  irregular  outline;  a  block  of  shelving 
terraced  stuff  to  the  left,  inland  a  rise  that  was  scarcely  a  hill, 
then  a  long  sweep  of  land  going  away  down  into  the  sea,  dis- 
appearing in  a  tremble  of  surf.  The  women  were  crowding 
the  bulwarks  again  to  look;  the  seamen,  with  their  partners, 
filled  the  fo'c's'le  head  with  twenty  figures;  Prentice  was  at 
the  wheel;  Brigstock  kept  aft  with  me,  and  sometimes  we 
walked,  talking,  and  sometimes  we  paused  to  look  at  the 
growing  land. 

By  and  by  I  said,  "In  stun'sails,  Mr.  Brigstock,  and  put  a 
leadsman  in  the  chains.  Also  send  Bull  on  to  the  flying  jib 
boom  end,  and  let  him  keep  a  bright  lookout  on  the  water 
ahead." 

This  was  done;  the  men  rushing  about  eagerly  and  nimbly. 
I  then  ordered  them  to  rig  the  stunsail  booms  in,  and  to  shorten 
sail  down  to  the  main  topgallant  sail  as  before,  furling  everything 
that  was  clewed  up.  This  work  brought  us  to  hard  upon 
twelve,  which  hour  I  made  by  an  observation  of  the  sun,  being 
anxious  to  fix  the  island  to  my  satisfaction,  in  case  we  should 
be  blown  away. 

The  women  got  but  a  poor  dinner;  in  fact,  Wambold,  in 
the  excitement  of  that  time,  had  forgotten  to  boil  the  'tween 
decks  soup  and  duff,  and  there  was  nothing  to  eat  but  pork, 
of  which,  happily,  in  a  lucid  interval  he  had  dropped  the  emi- 
grants' allowance  in  his  coppers. 

Some  of  the  girls  wanted  to  make  a  trouble  of  this.     Emma 


290  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

Marks  came  up  through  the  hatch  with  a  piece  of  pork  in  a  tin 
dish,  and  shrieked  up  at  me: 

"See  'ere!  this  is  all!  and  Brigstock  knows  it's  forbid! 
Am  I  to  be  starved  'cause  of  this  messing  about  after  an  island, 
\vhich  don't  concern  them  as  ought  to  be  in  Orstralia  by  this? 
Look  how  I  dine!"  yelled  the  odious  black  creature;  and  she 
threw  the  pork  over  the  rail  into  the  sea. 

I  called  to  Gouger  to  give  the  girl  something  to  eat  out  of 
the  pantry;  and,  to  escape  the  trouble  I  saw  threatened  in  the 
faces  of  others,  I  walked  aft. 

Soon  after  we  had  come  into  these  seas,  that  is  when  we 
had  struck  the  fine  weather  parallels,  the  men  had  got  the 
chain  cables  up,  and  made  all  ready  with  the  ground  tackle.  It 
remained  to  be  seen,  however,  whether,  supposing  the  island 
was  to  the  taste  of  the  people,  it  would  be  safer  to  lie  off  under 
command  of  the  helm,  than  to  bring  up;  and,  if  the  latter, 
whether  we  should  find  holding  ground.  By  half  past  one 
o'clock  we  were  within  a  mile,  with  no  bottom  in  reach  of 
the  lead. 

It  was  a  feast  to  the  sight  after  our  long  weeks  of  brine. 
Perhaps  a  deeper  spirit  of  beauty  than  belonged  to  it  went 
into  that  richly  draped  and  brightly  feathered  isle  out  of  the 
wonder  that  the  freshness  and  novelty  of  it  raised  in  us.  It 
showed  us  a  foreshore  of  three  miles  as  it  bore,  and  ran  away 
inland  perhaps  four  or  five;  it  was  swollen  with  undulations 
lifting  in  glittering  billows  of  verdure  to  a  central  elevation  of 
about  two  hundred  feet.  I  saw  the  gleams  of  waterfalls  like 
sparkling  mist.  Bull,  who  stood  near  me,  said  that  to  the 
best  of  his  recollection  the  great  lagoon  was  to  the  nor'rard 
round  the  point.  The  Pacific  comber  broken  by  creeks  and 
inlets  melted  in  white  flashes  upon  the  whiter  dazzle  of  the 
beach.  In  some  places  the  vegetation  came  down  thick  as  a 
wood  to  where  the  glistening  line  of  strand  ruled  it  off  sharp. 

I  turned  the  telescope  in  all  directions,  but  saw  no  habita- 
tion, no  sign  of  life.  This  was  not  extraordinary,  for  in  some 
parts  down  here  the  natives  are  migratory;  sometimes  they  are 
driven  out  by  war;  more  than  one  island  Eden,  such  as  Pit- 
cairn  and  Norfolk,  has  been  touched  at,  and  found  empty  of 
human  life;  others  vacant,  though  with  memorials  of  skilled 
labor  and  an  advanced  civilization;  but  still,  while  I  looked  at 
that  beautiful  coast,  I  expected  at  any  moment  to  see  a  swarm 
of  canoes  glide  like  insects  from  one  of  the  many  green  and 
shadowed  creeks. 

The  women  gazed  fascinated.  Many  were  on  the  forecastle, 
a  crowd  along  the  bulwarks,  a  number  on  the  poop;  they 


BULL'S   ISLAND.  .291 

hummed  in  talk  with  frequent  clear  cries  and  sharp  calls,  one 
to  another.  The  rich  scene  was  a  revelation  to  them ;  and  I 
suspected  that  many  would  be  thinking,  while  they  looked,  that 
the  seamens'  partners  were  not  the  debased  fools  they  had 
been  called. 

When  the  ship  had  been  brought  to  a  stand,  the  wind  blow- 
ing softly  away  from  the  southeast,  and  the  sea  rippling  silkily 
to  the  very  lift  of  the  opal-hued  comber,  arching  snakelike  for 
the  shoreward  run,  Brigstock,  with  as  respectful,  composed 
a  demeanor  as  ever  he  had  worn,  though  you  might  have 
noticed  a  little  color  of  triumph  and  importance  in  his  bearing 
and  looks,  asked  leave  to  take  charge  of  the  going  ashore  job. 

"Oh,  certainly,"  said  I;  "do  what  you  like.  I  hope  the 
island  will  suit  you." 

"I  think  it  will,"  said  he  in  his  deep  voice,  with  a  glance  at  it. 

He  then  called  the  crew  on  to  the  poop,  Susannah  Corbin 
taking  the  wheel  at  my  request  that  the  seaman  there  might 
join  the  sailors'  council.  I  beckoned  Kate  from  the  main 
deck,  and  walked  aft  with  her  that  I  might  not  appear  to 
attend  to  what  the  men  said. 

"What  a  beautiful  island  it  is!"  Kate  exclaimed,  her  face 
alight  with  the  pleasure  the  sight  gave  her. 

"Pray  Heaven  they  decide  to  take  it,  that  we  may  be  off." 

"What  are  they  going  to  do?" 

"Jaw  a  bit,"  said  I. 

"Some  of  the  partners  are  in  transports,"  she  exclaimed. 
"Jess  Honeyball,  standing  near  me  with  Isabella  Dobson,  cried 
out  just  now,  'Oh,  what  a  lovely  home  it  will  make.  Tom 
shall  build  our  house  there.'  'And  Dick  shall  build  ours 
there'  said  Dobson." 

"It's  happened  before,"  said  I,  "and  is  therefore  true. 
But  it's  hard  to  realize  even  while  it's  doing  under  one's  very 
nose;"  and  then  I  clenched  my  fists  and  worked  my  arms, 
softly  crying,  "Lord,  if  they  will  but  decide  upon  it,  that  we 
may  be  off — that  we  may  be  off!" 

The  seamen,  with  Brigstock  in  the  midst  of  them,  talked  in 
a«close  group  just  forward  of  the  mizzenmast.  I  was  at  no 
pains  to  catch  what  they  said.  After  a  little,  three  or  four 
went  off  the  poop,  but  they  returned  in  a  short  time  with  three 
ships'  muskets,  four  pistols,  and  three  or  four  cutlasses — no 
doubt  all  the  small  arms'  chest  held;  for  in  those  days,  as 
perhaps  in  these,  the  merchantman  went  afloat  very  ill 
equipped  for  purposes  of  defense. 

One  of  the  men  handed  Brigstock  a  large  flask  of  powder, 
with  which,  one  after  another,  they  loaded  their  weapons. 


292  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

(Observe  here  that  Brigstock  knew  of  the  arms'  chest  and 
ammunition  by  occupying  the  berth  where  they  were;  I  had 
never  entered  his  sleeping  place  from  the  hour  of  setting  foot 
in  the  ship.)  They  then  approached  one  of  the  port  quarter- 
boats;  and,  while  they  were  clearing  her  away,  Brigstock  came 
along  to  where  I  sat  with  Kate,  to  tell  me  he  and  Bull  and  six 
seamen  were  going  ashore  to  thoroughly  overhaul  the  island. 
I  told  him  I'd  keep  the  ship  hove-to;  should  a  change  of 
weather  happen  they  must  return  quickly. 

By  this  time  the  boat  was  lowered ;  it  was  then  three 
o'clock:  the  afternoon  exquisitely  fair  and  serene.  Brig- 
stock  dropped  into  the  boat  by  the  falls ;  their  oars  rose  and 
fell,  and  away  they  went,  followed  by  a  loud  cheering  from  the 
remaining  sailors  and  all  the  partners. 

"Choose  a  good  place  for  us,  Isaac!"  yelled  Emma  Grubb. 

"Down  by  the  water,  Bill,  down  by  the  water  for  me!" 
shrieked  Sail  Simmonds.  "It's  to  be  a  cottage  by  the  sea  for 
us  two." 

"Don't  forget  your  Soosie,  Thomas!"  cried  Bull's  partner. 

The  fellows,  laughing  and  shouting  back,  gave  way  with  a 
will,  and  were  presently  out  of  earshot. 

The  seamen  who  stayed  were  Weatherwax,  Luddy,  Gouger, 
Wambold,  and  Sampson.  I  sent  Wambold  to  his  work  in  the 
galley,  bidding  him  have  a  care  not  to  forget  the  women's 
supper.  I  then  called  Sampson  aft  to  the  wheel,  and  told  the 
others  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  a  sudden  call.  I 
next  asked  Alice  Perry  to  pipe  all  hands;  my  ship's  company, 
filled  with  excitement  and  wonder,  rushed  on  to  the  poop;  I 
believe  some  of  the  girls  had  a  notion  that  I  meant  to  sail  the 
ship  straight  away  to  Australia;  and  I  saw  a  suspicion  of  that 
sort  in  the  seamen,  for  the  three  of  them  went  to  the  galley, 
and  talked  to  Wambold,  and  all  of  them  watched  us  with  six 
or  eight  of  their  partners  standing  near. 

But  I  had  no  other  motive  in  summoning  the  girls  than  to 
request  them  to  change  into  male  attire,  so  as  to  have  a  good, 
useful  working  force  fitly  draped  in  case  of  emergency.  The 
seamen  saw  what  I  meant,  when  the  girls  came  up  clothed  as 
lads,  and  went  on  to  the  forecastle  with  the  partners. 

The  after  part  of  the  ship  now  looked  full  of  men ;  familiar 
as  this  feature  of  our  shipboard  life  had  long  since  grown,  for 
ever  since  the  worst  of  the  Horn  was  over  I  had  gone  on 
patiently  and  ploddingly  training  my  female  crew,  I  could 
not  help  laughing  when  I  gazed  around  at  the  dressed-up 
women;  if  it  hadn't  been  for  their  hair  they'd  have  appeared 
the  completest  sailors  you  can  imagine;  rather  short  for  the 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  293 

most  part,  it  is  true,  but  in  the  main  as  broad-shouldered, 
stout,  and  vigorous  as  .any  lads  I  was  ever  shipmate  with; 
and  most  of  them  in  their  male  duds,  spite  of  their  hair,  look- 
ing much  more  like  young  men  than  young  women. 

I  was  talking  to  Kate  when  Alice  Perry  in  her  man's 
clothes  rolled  up  to  me;  her  coarse  beauty  was  wonderfully 
heightened  by  her  dress ;  she,  of  them  all,  looked  the  charac- 
ter of  handsome,  mutinous,  dare-devil  young  seadog  the  best. 
She  drew  close,  with  a  flashing  glance  toward  the  helmsman, 
and  said  in  a  sharp  whisper: 

"Capt'n,  why's  the  ship  standing  still?" 

"Don't  you  know  I'm  waiting  for  those  men  to  return?" 

"That's  just  it,  then!"  she  snapped.  "What  d'yer  want 
with  'em?  They've  served  us  beastly  bad,  haven't  they?  I'd 
like  to  dish  that  Cobbs  too — she  and  the  rest." 

"Mind  how  you  talk,"  said  I,  looking  into  her  eyes,  which, 
though  sometimes  as  cold  as  a  cat's,  were  now  on  fire  with 
temper;  with  an  angry  cat's  expression  in  them  too. 

"Here's  thirty  of  us,  and  you're  a  man;  and  the  rest  of  the 
girls  '11  help,"  said  she.  "Lock  up  the  sailors  that's  left,  and 
sail  away." 

"No,"  I  answered,  frowning  at  her. 

"Yer  always  agin  what  I  ask." 

I  grasped  her  by  the  arm.  "If  the  sailors  overhear  you 
they'll  drown  you." 

We  stared  at  each  other,  and  then  she  gave  me  one  of  her 
wild,  glaring  grins,  wheeling  round  immediately  afterward, 
and  trying  to  whistle  as  she  walked  away. 

"There's  the  soul  of  a  pirate  in  that  figure,"  said  Kate, 
looking  after  her. 

"Whoever  bore  her  mulled  her  sex,"  I  exclaimed. 

"She's  so  much  in  love  with  you,"  said  Kate,  "she'd  kill 
you  for  jealousy,  if  you  provoked  her." 

"Then  she  mustn't  know,  or  I'm  a  dead  man,"  I  answered. 

She  did  not  ask  me  to  explain  myself. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE    SAILORS   DECIDE. 

WHILE  Brigstock  was  on  shore,  I  stood  out  to  improve  my 
offing.  My  crew  of  women  filled  on  the  topsail,  braced  up, 
hauled  taut  to  windward,  and  coiled  down  as  smartly  as  any 
forecastle  company.  When  I  had  increased  the  distance  by 


294  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

about  half  a  mile,  the  girls  backed  the  yards  again.  The 
fellow  at  the  helm  steered  with  a  face  of  admiration  while  this 
was  doing.  Two  others  were  in  the  chains  swinging  the  lead; 
the  remaining  two  would  have  pulled  with  the  women,  but  the 
girls  told  them  to  get  out  of  the  way ;  and  they  held  aloof, 
looking  on,  grinning  like  thirsty  spaniels. 

I  constantly  swept  the  island  with  the  telescope-  but  the 
vegetation  was  wonderfully  thick  and  rich,  and,  when  Brig- 
stock's  boat  had  entered  one  of  the  green  shady  creeks,  I  saw 
no  more  of  the  men.  Sometimes  I'd  strain  my  ear,  fancying 
I  caught  a  sound  of  firearms.  Imagination  was  lively,  and  I'd 
see  a  movement  down  in  the  vegetation  near  the  shore  as  of 
something  creeping  and  black,  with  a  greasy  gleam.  But  the 
glass  resolved  me  nothing,  save  bushes,  and  tall  grasses,  and 
trees,  when  I  directed  it  at  the  spot. 

About  seven  o'clock  I  came  on  deck,  after  taking  some 
supper,  and  saw  the  boat.  My  heart  beat  hard  at  the  sight  of 
her.  It  was  a  scene  of  tender,  spacious,  indeed  glorious 
beauty  just  then,  for  the  sun  was  burning  behind  the  island, 
and  the  mass  of  the  land  stood  out  in  dyes  deepened  to  a 
heart-melting  loveliness,  by  the  splendor  of  their  setting,  and 
the  sky  line  ran  in  feathers  of  palm  and  cocoa,  till  it  was 
smoothed  out  by  distance  or  altitude  into  the  dark  green 
polished  round  of  the  hill.  The  western  light  sank  so  deep 
into  the  evening  shadow  that  the  distance  of  the  illimitable 
night  eastward  seemed  to  open,  and  the  ocean  streamed  in 
ripples  of  gilt  into  it. 

All  the  while,  saving  a  short  interval  for  supper,  the  women 
thronged  the  bulwarks  and  forecastle,  feasting  their  eyes  on 
that  delicious,  restful  scene  of  land.  It  was  pitiful  to  mark 
the  yearning,  devouring  looks  of  many  of  them ;  the  heart- 
craving  for  a  run  ashore,  a  roll  in  the  grass,  for  a  handful  of 
sweet-cool  fruit  that  should  luxuriously  sink  through  and 
through  to  the  marrow;  for  a  drink  from  one  of  the  bright 
falls  shining  afar. 

The  boat  came  along  leisurely;  the  partners  screamed  a 
welcome  when  she  was  within  earshot,  and  the  rowers  looked 
round  and  nodded,  but  they  pulled  like  men  dead  beat.  The 
first  to  come  over  the  side  was  Brigstock;  Miss  Cobbs  darted 
from  under  the  break  of  the  poop  to  meet  him,  and  they  stood 
together  talking  for  some  moments  very  earnestly,  he  holding 
her  by  both  hands. 

I  composed  my  face,  but  my  heart  beat  hard  with  anxiety 
while  I  walked  the  poop,  waiting  for  Brigstock.  He  arrived 
presently,  moving  very  slowly. 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  295 

"Well?"  said  I. 

"It's  a  beautiful  island,  capt'n." 

"Will  it  suit  you?" 

"We  believe  it  will,  sir." 

"Believe!" 

"We're  all  agreed  it'll  answer,"  said  he,'raising  his  voice 
that  the  man  at  the  wheel,  who  was  straining  his  ear,  might 
hear  him.  "But,"  he  continued,  talking  as  much  at  that 
worthy  (Weatherwax)  as  at  me,  "afore  we  decide  our  pardners 
must  view  it." 

"That's  but  right." 

He  then  described  the  island;  but  his  description  scarcely 
went  further  than  Bull's.  He  said  there  was  a  fine  lagoon 
round  the  point,  where,  should  they  agree  to  occupy  the  place, 
the  ship  would  lie  snug  and  safe  as  in  harbor,  while  they  took 
what  they  wanted  out  of  her.  "I'll  accept  no  risk  of  that 
sort,"  said  I.  "What!  Enter  a  lagoon  with  a  ship  drawing 
eighteen  feet,  without  a  pilot,  or  a  chart  of  soundings!  And 
more  than  a  hundred  souls  to  occupy  that  island  till  something 
comes  along  should  we  touch  and  stick,  and  go  to  pieces  all 
in  due  course!  No  lagoon  for  me.  We'll  work  in  close 
inshore;  you've  plenty  of  good  landing  places." 

"Well,"  said  he,  with  a  smothered  yawn,  "we'll  not  let  that 
be  a  difficulty,  sir." 

I  stepped  to  the  side  to  see  what  they  were  doing  in  the 
boat,  and  found  them  handing  up  a  quantity  of  cocoanuts  and 
plantains  to  the  women.  Brigstock  sung  out  for  fruit  for  the 
captain.  I  observed  that  only  the  partners  were  to  be  regaled, 
and  asked  for  a  few  nuts  and  clusters,  as  a  treat  for  some  of 
my  own  people.  Then,  as  the  dark  was  drawing  down,  I 
ordered  the  boat  to  be  hoisted,  and  my  crew  of  girls  braced 
the  topsail  yard  to  the  wind. 

There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  stand  on  and  off  throughout 
the  night,  and  keep  a  bright  lookout  for  reefs.  Fortunately, 
the  moon  gave  a  clear  light,  and  robed  the  island  in  a  mist  of 
silver  which  shone  faintly  upon  the  sea,  so  that  we  could  never 
lose  sight  of  the  land.  All  this  night  long  I  was  up  and  down. 
The  women  kept  the  decks  till  eleven ;  and  some  of  the  part- 
ners were  talking  to  the  seamen  down  in  the  waist,  where  the 
moonlight  lay  bright  after  eight  bells  had  been  struck. 

Dawn  found  us  off  the  island  again;  and  soon  after  sunrise 
the  ship  was  full  of  life.  It  was  just  such  weather  as  had 
shone  yesterday,  with  the  same  warm  gushing  of  wind,  only 
weaker.  The  men  got  breakfast  early,  doing  nothing  to  the 
ship  save  laying  the  topsail  to  the  mast.  The  women  were  at 


296  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

breakfast  in, the  'tween  decks,  when  the  crew  cleaned  out  the 
longboat,  and  hoisted  her  over  the  side. 

There  was  a  big  party  of  them  to  go  ashore;  and  they 
needed  a  boat  of  some  burden. 

Brigstock  conversed  with  me  on  the  poop,  while  the  men 
were  at  this  job.  He  told  me  there  were  no  signs  of  life  on 
the  island.  They  had  looked  about  them  carefully  and  dis- 
covered nothing  to  tell  that  the  spot  had  been  inhabited  at  any 
period.  He  said  if  he  took  possession  in  the  name  of  Queen 
Victoria,  would  it  belong  to  England,  or  to  him  and  his  party 
as  its  settlers? 

I  said  if  they  settled  the  island,  Great  Britain  was  not 
likely  to  dispossess  them.  If  they  flourished  they'd  call 
themselves  a  dependency,  and  England  would  send  out 
help  to  enable  them  to  fight  with  their  enemies  should  they 
be  attacked. 

"We  shan't  want  no  help,"  said  he,  "for  we  don't  hintend 
no  fighting.  Who's  a-going  to  attack  us?  There's  some 
custom  in  taking  possession;  can  yer  name  it,  sir?" 

"Hoist  the  British  flag,  and  say,  'I  take  possession  in  the 
Queen's  name,'  and  then  call  for  three  cheers." 

"Suppose  it's  been  already  took  possession  of  by  the 
French?" 

"They  may  attempt  to  turn  you  out;  you  appeal  to  your 
native  country;  you  become  the  subject  of  a  long  diplomatic 
correspondence,  and  perhaps  the  occasion  of  a  war;  and  the 
name  of  Brigstock  passes  into  tradition,  as  not  only  a  father  of 
South  Sea  settlements,  but  a  creator  of  history." 

He  relished  all  this  with  one  of  his  slow  smiles,  and,  after 
eying  the  island  for  a  while,  stepped  to  the  rail  to  see  what 
they  were  at  in  the  boat. 

Observing  Alice  Perry  on  the  quarter-deck,  I  bade  her  pipe, 
"all  hands  shift  clothes."  One  of  twenty  women  overhang- 
ing the  bulwark  rail  called  up  to  me: 

"Capt'n,  mayn't  we  go  on  shore  for  a  treat?" 

I  shook  my  head. 

"Why  not?"  cried  Emma  Marks. 

I  answered  with  a  scowl,  and  turned  my  back.  Gladly 
would  I  have  sent  the  poor  women  ashore  for  a  run  for  the  day, 
to  eat  the  sweet  tropical  fruit,  and  refresh  themselves  at  the  cold, 
bright  springs,  and  forget  their  dreary  habitation  of  'tween 
decks  in  the  twinkling  shadows  of  the  rich  woods.  But  who 
was  to  put  them  ashore  and  bring  them  off,  and  be  responsible 
for  their  safety  when  landed? 

Not  until  ten  o'clock  did  the  longboat  get  away.     There 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  297 

went  in  her  eleven  men  and  all  the  chosen  females.  Bull  and 
Jackson  remained  in  the  ship. 

I  found  something  incredible  in  the  sight  of  the  respectable, 
sausage-curled  Miss  Cobbs,  attired  as  though  she  was  going  on 
a  visit  to  friends,  descending  the  gangway  ladder  the  men  had 
thrown  over,  with  her  countenance  defined  in  lines  of  self- 
complacency,  and  demure  importance  under  her  bonnet.  The 
looks  of  the  others,  such  as  Kate  Davis  and  the  two  Honey- 
balls,  rendered  realization  of  this  settling  scheme  easy;  but 
Miss  Cobbs! 

Brigstock  handed  her  down,  and  seated  her  in  the  stern 
sheets;  the  men  and  women  made  a  big  boatful  as  they  shoved 
off,  hoisting  the  sail,  laughing  and  chatting  like  a  party  on 
pleasure,  looking  up  at  the  faces  along  the  bulwark  rail,  and 
nodding  and  answering  shrill  calls  not  to  forget  to  return  with 
plenty  of  cocoanuts  and  plantains. 

While  the  boat  was  going  ashore,  I  observed  Perry  and 
three  or  four  others  in  earnest  conversation.  All  my  girl 
company,  male-attired,  were  on  the  poop.  Perry  and  the  girl 
she  talked  with  came  and  asked  me  to  proceed  on  the  voyage. 
I  pointed  to  the  longboat,  and  said,  "And  leave  those  people?" 

"Yes,"  cried  Alice  passionately. 

"We  had  enough  of  this  yesterday,  my  girl,"  said  I. 

Her  face  darkened,  and  she  exclaimed,  "YVhy  are  we  to  be 
kept  waiting?  What's  those  beasts  there  done  that  they  re  to 
keep  us  messing  about  here,  while  they  goes  ashore  and  enjies 
themselves?" 

"Lord,  if  I  was  but  a  man!"  exclaimed  Emmy  Reed,  with 
a  grin  of  temper  that  exhibited  a  mouthful  of  teeth,  not  so 
white  and  glaring  as  Perry's,  though. 

"For  two  pins,"  said  Alice,  "we'd  lock  yer  up,  and  sail 
away  with  the  ship  just  to  spite  'em.  Ah,  that  we  would," 
she  cried,  with  a  saucy  red  flashing  toss  of  her  head;  "if  we 
knew  which  way  to  steer!" 

"Would  you?"  said  I.     "Would  you?" 

And  putting  my  arm  coaxingly  and  caressingly  through 
hers,  I  looked  her  in  the  eyes,  and  led  her  away  from  her 
companions ;  and  then,  in  lover-like  accents,  told  her  to  keep 
her  temper,  and  to  suffer  me  to  have  my  way ;  the  mutiny  of 
her  spirit  softened  out  of  her  gaze ;  she  liked  my  caressing 
manner,  and  was  presently  purring  to  it  after  her  style. 

I  observed  that  Kate  watched  us. 

The  boat,  I  have  said,  got  away  at  ten,  and  did  not  return 
until  seven.  I  guessed  they  were  enjoying  a  fine  holiday 
ashore.  They  had  plenty  of  fruit  to  eat,  and  water  to  drink, 


290  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

and  a  delicious  little  scene  of  country  to  ramble  in.  Three 
times  my  girls  trimmed  sail  for  a  "ratch, "  as  we  term  it,  by 
which  means  I  kept  a  safe  offing.  I  often  looked  through  the 
glass,  but  never  could  see  a  sign  of  the  Brigstock  party. 

I'll  not  enlarge  upon  the  incidents  of  that  day.  Alice  Perry 
gave  me  no  more  trouble;  but  that  blister  of  a  female,  Emma 
Marks,  came  very  near  to  causing  confusion  by  rushing  on  to 
the  poop,  and  calling  upon  my  crew  to  lower  the  remaining 
boats  without  regard  to  my  orders,  so  that  parties  might  go 
ashore. 

"I  can  pull  an  oar,"  she  squeaked.  "There's  Corbin  there 
can  row,  and  Hann  Wright,  and  Fanny  Pike." 

How  did  my  heart  grieve  she  was  no  man,  that  I  might  have 
griped  her  by  breech  and  scruff,  and  flung  her  over  the 
poop  rail ! 

Thus  all  day,  with  a  brief  break  of  three  boards  for  an 
offing,  did  the  Earl  of  Leicester  lie,  softly  breathing  rather  than 
rolling,  with  the  light  delicate  pulse  of  swell  out  of  the  north, 
and  her  sails  slightly  fanning  as  she  swayed,  and  the  sky 
cloudless  from  sealine  to  sealine. 

In  the  afternoon  Kate  told  me  that,  while  the  women  were 
at  dinner,  she  overheard  some  of  them  say  they  meant  to  ask 
Brigstock  to  let  them  join  the  settlers  on  the  island.  I  had  all 
along  reckoned,  from  the  moment  when  the  whole  beauty  of 
this  little  Pacific  Eden  was  revealed  to  us,  that  many  would 
yield  to  its  witchery ;  those  particularly  who  were  orphans,  and 
perhaps  utterly  friendless  in  England,  with  but  vague  ideas 
and  lean  hopes  when  they  thought  of  Australia,  and  of  work 
and  wages  there. 

At  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  sunset  was 
splendid  behind  the  island,  I  saw  the  longboat  creep,  a  black 
spot,  with  the  wink  of  oars  on  either  hand,  out  of  the  creek  it 
had  vanished  in ;  she  came  along  briskly,  and  was  speedily 
alonsgide.  The  girls  stepped  on  board  very  merry,  browned, 
somewhat  bedraggled,  as  though  with  horse  play  and  caper 
cutting  in  the  woods;  they  brought  a  good  cargo  of  nuts  and 
plantains,  which  were  freely  distributed.  Miss  Cobbs  alone 
looked  as  though  she  had  sat  still  and  watched  the  others; 
her  attire  was  as  neat  as  when  she  left.  Brigstock  maddened 
me  with  impatience  by  lingering  in  the  boat.  I  was  burning 
with  curiosity  to  know  the  decision  the  party  had  arrived  at, 
and,  unable  to  bear  myself  any  longer,  called  to  Miss  Cobbs, 
who  stood  chatting  in  the  gangway  with  several  of  the  women. 
She  came  promptly,  smirking  as  usual,  but  dropped  me  no 
courtesy. 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  299 

"Well,  Miss  Cobbs,"  said  I,  "what  do  you  and  the  others 
think  of  the  island?" 

"Captain  Morgan,  it  is  simply  lovely,"  she  replied  with  an 
air  of  superiority.  "Oh,  what  flowers!  the  'ole  place  smells 
like  a  nosegay!"  she  exclaimed,  bringing  her  fingers  together, 
and  rolling  up  her  eyes. 

"Do  you  mean  to  settle  upon  it?" 

"We  do  indeed,  and  on  no  other.  Only  think,"  she  cried> 
extending  her  hand  toward  the  land,  "of  natur,  as  Mr.  Brig- 
stock  says,  endowing  us  poor  people  with  such  a  beautiful 
estate!  It's  nigh  as  big  as  a  county,  sir,  and  to  be  had  for  the 
taking.  No  wild  beasts — sweeter  birds  than  ever  you  could 
dream  of — such  beautiful  waterfalls,  too!  a  natural  'arbor; 
and  on  the  other  side,  past  the  'ill,  an  'ole  row  of  caves,  clean 
and  airy — living  rooms  till  houses  can  be  contrived,  and  then 
most  useful  by  and  by,  as  Mr.  Brigstock  was  saying,  as 
bonded  warehouses." 

I  let  her  run  on;  indeed  her  tongue's  sharp  end  had  cut  so 
great  a  weight  of  anxiety  from  my  spirits,  that  my  heart  could 
not  have  beaten  a  gayer  measure  had  yonder  island  been  Syd- 
ney Heads,  and  our  ship  with  a  pilot  aboard  entering  the  bay. 

Brigstock  now  coming  up,  I  said  to  him:  "So  that  island 
proves  to  your  liking?" 

"It's  a  Heden,"  he  answered. 

"There's  a  hundred  gentlemen's  estates  on  it,"  said  Miss 
Cobbs,  "and  all  beautifuller  than  the  beautifullestin  England." 

"Nothen  '11  be  wanted,"  said  Brigstock,  "but  homes." 

"You'll  not  keep  the  ship  hanging  off  here  longer  than's 
necessary,  I  hope?  We've  had  two  days  of  it;  the  weather 
favors  us,  but  there  may  come  a  change,"  said  I,  looking  east- 
ward, where  I  thought  I  saw  an  orange  flake  of  sail  in  the 
shadow,  but  it  melted  soon,  and  was  nothing. 

"We'll  be  taming  to  first  thing  in  the  morning,"  said  he. 
"Will  the  boat  lie  safe?  Bit  of  a  job  chocking  and  gettin' 
her  over  agin." 

We  settled  to  tow  her,  as  I  meant  to  keep  under  way  all 
night  as  before.  We  had  some  further  conversation  about  the 
island;  Brigstock  and  Cobbs  then  left  me,  and  I  got  my  girl 
crew  to  trim  sail,  while  the  men  saw  to  the  longboat. 

It  was  then  nearly  dark ;  the  moon  not  yet  risen,  and  a 
gaping  crimson  scar  of  sunset  past  the  island,  that  made  me 
think  somehow — as  though  I  was  gone  mad — of  the  red  mouth 
of  a  yawning  black  cat.  But  all  was  starry,  balmy,  and 
serene ;  throughout  the  day  the  barometer  had  warranted  the 
weather,  and  now  came  a  third  passage  of  ocean  night-beauty, 


300  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

the  firmament  hovering  in  trembling  prisms  over  our  mast- 
heads, the  sea  stretching  flat  in  liquid  black,  east  and  west, 
sparkling  in  a  little  light  here  and  there,  where  some  larger 
ripple  broke. 

While  my  crew  were  below  changing,  and  at  the  moment 
that  the  green  dawn  in  the  east  was  whitening  into  dim  silver, 
over  a  red  arch  of  moon  upon  the  black  sea  line,  the  Brigstock 
party,  who  had  gathered  together  on  the  forecastle,  struck  up 
a  hymn.  All  of  the  "settlers"  were  there,  saving  Harding, 
who  watched  the  ship,  and  Coffin  at  the  wheel.  They  sang 
with  strength,  spirit,  and  something  of  sweetness;  it  was  a 
familiar  hymn,  and  many  on  the  main  deck  joined  in;  that 
song  of  adoration  thus  sung  by  shapes  of  shadow,  forward  or 
standing  near  the  main  hatch  and  elsewhere,  with  the  silence  in 
the  faint  white  hollow  sails  climbing  to  the  black  line  of  the  furled 
royal,  gave  a  wonderful  solemnity  to  the  rising  of  the  moon. 

When  the  hymn  was  ended,  I  heard  Brigstock's  deep  rolling 
voice;  he  was  either  lecturing  or  praying.  Presently  they  sang 
a  second  hymn.  Just  then  I  spied  Kate  standing  in  the  moon- 
light at  the  gangway;  I  called  her  to  me,  and  told  her  that  the 
people  had  decided  to  settle  that  island  yonder;  in  a  few  days 
we  should  be  heading  for  Australia;  in  a  month,  under  God, 
we  should  have  arrived  at  Sydney!  Never  had  my  spirits 
danced  so  in  all  my  years!  Had  they  sung  anything  but 
hymns,  I  should  have  capered  to  the  music. 

While  I  walked,  talking  with  great  excitement  to  this  girl — 
think  of  our  teeming  topics!  the  island  scheme,  the  passage  to 
Sydney  with  girls  for  a  crew,  the  afterward — a  tall,  stoutly 
built  woman,  named  Sarah  Thomas,  came  along  the  poop  and 
stopped  us. 

"Capt'n,  may  I  have  a  word?" 

"What  is  it?" 

"D'yer  think  the  notion  of  living  upon  that  there  island," 
said  she,  pointing  to  the  black  mass  of  it  on  the  quarter,  "is 
worth  entertaining?" 

"By  whom?" 

"By  me  and  some  others." 

"They  don't  want  you." 

"Why  not?"  she  exclaimed,  with  some  heat.  "We 
wouldn't  meddle  with  them.  We'd  be  a  separate  establish- 
ment. They  aint  got  no  right  to  all  the  island.  We'd  choose 
bits  of  ground  in  a  separate  part;  the  men  'ud  build  'omes  for 
us,  and  in  return  we'd  wash  for  them,  wait  upon  'em,  clean, 
and  dp  their  herrants.  A  plenty  we  could  do,"  §he  added 
suspiciously,  as  though  afraid  of  my  laughter. 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  301 

Laugh  I  did,  nevertheless;  and,  to  get  rid  of  her,  bade  her 
go  to  Brigstock.  She  went  away  muttering  sulkily;  and,  at  the 
head  of  the  ladder, «called  to  others  below  aggressively,  "He 
says  they  don't  want  us.  As  if  bein'  single,  we  wasn't  of  use. 
They  can't  take  it  all,  I  swear;  not  lawfully.  Who's  them 
sailors  to  grant  rights?"  and  thus  calling,  she  sank  down  the 
ladder,  and  vanished. 

We  were  off  the  island  again  in  our  former  position  before 
daybreak.  The  sight  was  beautiful  when  the  rising  sunshine 
streamed  upon  the  land.  The  dyes  shone  out  in  silver,  green, 
and  gilt,  in  the  steady  gleam  of  ivory,  the  flashful  throb  of 
foam  upon  the  beach,  in  lines  of  delicate  lacelike  vapor 
motionless  upon  the  hillside.  Yet,  captivating  as  was  the  pic- 
ture, would  not  some  of  the  people  hang  back  at  the  last? 

The  longboat  was  brought  to  the  gangway,  and  all  three 
remaining  boats  lowered;  this  was  done  at  daylight.  The 
hatches  were  then  opened,  and  the  men  went  to  work  to  break 
out  the  goods  they  meant  to  take.  The  bales  of  clothes  were 
easily  come  at,  and  before  breakfast  they  had  loaded  the  gig 
with  bundles  of  attire,  male  and  female.  Such  bountiful 
appropriation  was  nothing  short  of  piracy;  for  lighter  offenses 
than  bagging  those  bundles  Brigstock  and  his  party  would 
have  been  turned  off  at  Execution  Dock  and  elsewhere  in 
days  when  the  youngest  of  them  were  sucklings.  I  could  not 
reconcile  so  very  downright  a  robbery  with  the  excellent  prin- 
ciples professed  by  Brigstock.  There  went,  I  dare  say,  the 
value  of  the  men's  pay  down  to  this  time,  in  the  gig's  lading 
alone.  But  I  resolved  to  hold  my  peace.  So  far  as /was 
concerned,  they  might  gut  the  ship,  if  they  left  me  the  where- 
withal to  carry  her  to  Sydney. 

After  breakfast  they  started  again,  and  got  a  whip  to  the 
winch  to  sway  some  of  the  heavy  things  out  of  the  hold.  I 
begged  Brigstock  to  break  out  in  such  fashion  as  to  give  the 
ship  no  list,  for  the  women  would  be  unable  to  trim  her;  he 
promised  to  see  to  it.  He  also  consented,  if  the  weather  per- 
mitted, to  raft  some  casks  ashore  and  fill  them  with  fresh 
water  when  they  were  done  with  their  own  business.  As  I 
have  elsewhere  said,  the  ship's  lading  consisted  largely  of 
argicultural  implements;  but  the  catalogue  of  commodities 
also  comprised  many  articles  always  needed  by  young  settle- 
ments, particularly  districts  distant  from  a  cargo-fed  source 
such  as  Sydney.  Brigstock,  no  doubt,  before  I  was  stolen  out 
of  the  Caroline,  had  acquainted  himself  with  the  character  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester's  freight;  it  was  this,  perhaps,  that  set  his 
colonizing  scheme  going.  Anyway,  down  in  our  ship's  hold 


302  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

was  nearly  all  that  a  gang  of  settlers  would  need.  Figure  the 
contents  of  a  large  ironmonger's  shop ;  then  add  a  ready-made 
tailor's  establishment;  enlarge  with  a  quantity  of  plowshares, 
rakes,  hoes,  pickaxes,  and  so  forth;  there  were  bales  of  coarse 
blankets  in  the  forehold,  and,  which  was  of  great  consequence 
to  the  Brigstock  party,  a  considerable  stock  of  household  stuff, 
such  as  small  square  looking-glasses,  cheap  crockery  in  crates, 
folding  chairs,  and  bedsteads. 

They  had  four  boats,  and  all  were  filled  by  noon ;  so  that, 
after  getting  some  dinner  and  smoking  a  pipe,  they  were  able 
to  start  right  away  for  the  island.  The  longboat,  with  hoisted 
sail,  took  the  other  boats  in  tow.  Brigstock  was  in  charge, 
and  went  with  eight  men,  leaving  Harding  and  two  others 
behind.  There  was  a  pleasant  little  inshore  breeze,  and,  as  we 
lay  hove-to  within  a  mile  of  the  shore,  the  boats  soon  vanished 
in  the  green  and  shady  creek  the  men  had  headed  for  on  pre- 
vious occasions.  They  were  absent  two  hours;  then  returned 
rowing.  My  girl  crew  trimmed  sail  for  a  board,  while  the 
men  went  below  into  the  hold,  and  I  ratched  to  an  offing  out- 
side of  a  mile,  which  our  drift  was  bound  to  narrow  before  the 
crew  were  ready  with  the  second  cargo. 

All  this  while  the  weather  continued  splendid  and  quiet,  for 
which  my  heart  beat  in  gratitude  every  time  I  looked  round 
the  sea,  for  I  was  already  bitterly  sick  of  this  business  of  loit- 
ering; I  was  feverishly  eager  for  the  start,  the  more  so  because 
of  that  sort  of  nervousness  that  makes  you  crazy  to  make  an 
end  of  the  difficulty;  is  it  a  tooth  or  an  arm?  In  the  name  of 
the  angels,  quick !  that  it  may  be  over !  Before  me  lay  the 
task  of  sailing  the  ship  for  a  month,  and  perhaps  longer, 
through  perilous  waters,  with  only  women  to  work  the  vessel, 
and  myself  the  sole  navigator.  You'll  suppose  I  wished  it 
bedtime,  and  all  well. 

They  went  away  with  a  second  cargo  of  four  boatfuls  in  the 
afternoon,  two  hours  before  sundown.  All  the  partners  helped 
at  the  winch,  antl  were  busy  wherever  they  could  be  useful.  I 
kept  my  own  girls  dressed  in  male  attire  on  the  poop,  which 
diminished  the  main  deck  crowd ;  but  there  were  nearly  fifty 
others  to  hang  about,  to  get  in  the  way  of  the  men,  to  pass 
remarks,  to  strive,  in  short,  to  breed  trouble. 

The  worst  of  these  was  not  Emma  Marks,  as  I  might  have 
expected,  but  that  stout,  strong  female,  Sarah  Thomas,  who, 
with  others,  wanted  to  go  ashore  with  the  Brigstock  party.  I 
learned  from  Kate  that  Thomas  had  spoken  to  Brigstock,  and 
that  he  had  sternly  refused  to  take  any  other  than  the  men's 
own  women.  Hot  words  had  followed,  and  in  revenge  a  mob 


THE   SAILORS  DECIDE.  303 

of  the  girls  who  wished  to  settle,  Thomas  acting  as  ringleader, 
went  about  the  deck,  calling  insolent  remarks  down  to  the 
sailors  in  the  boats,  or  in  the  hold,  whenever  they  caught  sight 
of  them,  mocking  and  sneering  at  the  "pardners,"  and  making 
themselves  offensive  in  that  sort  of  way  in  which  people  of 
their  condition  are  usually  artists.  The  men  took  but  little 
notice  of  them.  Now  and  then  you'd  hear  a  deep  growl  of 
"Stow  that  ballyrag!"  or  a  cry  faint  in  the  depths  of  "Hold 
your  blather,  you  trulls!"  "Dry  up,  you  fagots!" 

Once,  Brigstock  faced  Sarah  Thomas,  and  in  deep,  warning 
notes  asked  her  if  she  thought  such  behavior  "was  a-going  to 
bring  her  a  hinvitation  to  jine  the  island  party?  I'd  rather 
land  a  boatful  of  rats  than  two  such  as  you,"  said  he.  "Yer 
should  marry  a  militiaman;  dorn't  hentertain  no  notion  of 
'spectable  sailors.  Jer  stare  arter  yer  drink?  Then  you're 
drunk  now.  My  opinion  is,"  he  exclaimed,  looking  round, 
"that  this  here  Thomas  is  one  of  them  parties  as  picks  up 
their  knowledge  of  life  by  putting  their  heye  to  the  neck  of  a 
whisky  bottle,  and  using  it  as  a  telescope."  He  nodded 
severely  at  her,  and,  amid  a  little  squeal  of  laughter  from  some 
of  the  partners,  went  over  the  side  into  one  of  the  boats  there. 

The  surprising  part  was  the  enthusiasm  of  the  women  who 
were  to  take  up  their  abode  on  the  island  with  the  seamen. 
They  kept  together,  and  throughout  the  day  laughed  and 
talked,  and  sang;  bustling  about  in  a  gang  to  help  the  men,  all 
with  faces  glowing  with  holiday  pleasure  and  happy  expecta- 
tion. I  never  witnessed  the  least  suggestion  in  them  of  hang- 
ing back.  You'd  see  them  staring  at  the  island  as  at  something 
newly  given  to  them,  as  a  man  after  he's  bought  a  house  looks 
at  it,  and  walks  on  t'other  side  the  street  to  see  it,  though  he 
may  have  lived  in  it  for  years.  My  notion  had  been,  the 
recoil  in  them  would  have  been  fatal  to  Brigstock's  scheme, 
when  a  day  of  staring  had  staled  the  island  as  a  picture,  and 
when  they  noticed  how  blank  was  the  circle  of  sea,  how  lonely 
that  spot  of  land  in  the  midst  of  it;  nothing  alive  moving  upon 
its  white  beach;  no  feathering  of  smoke  anywhere  to  indicate 
human  existence.  But,  in  truth,  imagination  in  those  poor, 
rude,  homely  souls  stopped  at  perception  that  yonder  was  a 
piece  of  country,  which  they  were  at  liberty  to  divide  among 
them,  where  every  woman  would  have  a  husband,  where 
they'd  build  houses,  and  plant  gardens,  and  lounge  their  lives 
away,  wiping  out  of  memory  all  the  unpleasant  parts — the 
severe  mistresses,  the  month's  notice,  the  bad  character. 

Another  night  drew  down:  a  night  of  moonlight  and  silence 
upon  the  sea;  the  soft  wind  blew,  the  stars  trembled  in  their 


394  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

hosts;  again  the  Brigstock  party  sang  hymns  upon  the  fore- 
castle till  nine  o'clock,  and  till  eleven  sat  talking  there. 
Most  of  the  women  went  to  bed  early;  they  were  sick  of  this 
detention,  weary  of  the  sight  of  land  they  were  not  permitted 
to  visit,  and  many  were  sulky  and  gloomy  with  envy. 

By  noon,  however,  next  day,  the  men  had  carried  ashore  all 
they  proposed  to  take,  including  a  raft  of  spare  booms  and  a 
couple  of  ensigns.  Hospitably  had  the  hold  served  them! 
Two  boats  they  loaded  with  provisions,  chiefly  tinned  goods, 
which  sight  so  alarmed  me  that  I  went  below  before  they  put 
off,  to  ascertain  what  supplies  they  intended  to  leave  us. 
There  was  not  plenty,  indeed,  but  I  reckoned  there  would  be 
enough,  unless  we  should  be  sorely  put  to  it  by  head  winds  or 
foul  weather;  of  beef  and  pork  they  took  as  much  as  the  gig 
could  swim  with.  This  was  to  be  their  last  load;  and,  with  a 
whole  squadron  of  spare  booms  in  tow,  and  three  boats  laden 
down  to  the  gunwhales,  away  they  went  in  the  longboat,  rais- 
ing a  mighty  cheering,  which  was  answered  by  a  hundred 
shrill  cries  by  their  partners,  who  waved  hats,  shawl,  hands 
in  a  most  impassioned,  grotesque  exhibition  of  encouragement 
and  Wapping-like  devotion. 

Brigstock  had  kept  his  word,  and  left  the  ship  on  a  level 
keel;  basing  my  calculations  on  the  burden  of  the  longboat 
and  the  other  three  boats,  I  reckoned  they  had  taken  about 
fifty  tons  of  goods. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

THE   START    FOR   SYDNEY. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day,  dating  from  our  arrival  off 
the  island,  we  were  heading  in  for  it  once  more  to  heave-to  for 
the  last  time  that  the  Brigstock  party  might  go  ashore.  We 
towed  the  longboat  in  our  wake.  Everything  had  been  com- 
pleted before  dark  on  the  previous  night  when,  with  the  help 
of  my  women  crew  at  the  winch,  we  had  hoisted  aboard  a 
number  of  casks  filled  with  fresh  water  for  us  by  Brigstock 
and  his  men,  and  rafted  off  in  tow  of  the  boats. 

The  wind  had  shifted:  it  was  blowing  south;  a  merry 
whistling  wind,  cool  and  refreshing;  the  ocean  was  a  wide 
dance  of  diamonds  under  the  sun,  and  the  life  of  little  white 
clouds  swarming  briskly  northward  was  in  the  sky.  It  was 
about  half-past  nine  in  the  morning;  I  stood  in  conversation 
with  Brigstock  at  the  break  of  the  poop.  All  my  crew, 


THE   START  FOR   SYDNEY.  305 

dressed  in  male  attire,  were  scattered  about  the  decks, 
mingling  and  conversing  with  the  rest  of  the  females.  The 
chests  and  boxes  belonging  to  the  settlers  had  been  taken 
ashore  on  the  previous  day,  together  with  half  a  suit  of  canvas 
to  supply  the  people  with  roofs  until  they  had  built  houses. 
The  ship's  bell  was  also  gone;  likewise  the  clock,  and  many 
other  conveniences  and  necessaries.  The  whole  group  of  sail- 
ors and  partners,  barring  one  at  the  helm  and  Brigstock,  were 
on  the  forecastle,  attired  ready  for  the  shore.  The  women 
had  put  on  their-best  things;  even  in  this  trifling  particular  they 
showed  an  incapacity  of  distinguishing  that  touched  me. 

Brigstock  was  dressed  as  parsonically  as  his  clothes  would 
admit  of.  He  had  found  a  white  shawl,  and  had  buttoned 
himself  up  to  it;  his  head  cover  was  a  slop  black  wideawake; 
but  the  fellow's  best  claims  in  this  way  lay  in  his  face,  which 
this  morning,  as  we  drove  slowly  toward  the  island  under  a 
main  topgallant  sail,  was  unusually  long,  yellow,  and  com- 
placent; his  dark  eyes  dwelt  steadfastly  and  thoughtfully  upon 
the  island;  and  often  a  slow  smile  of  deep  and  serious  gratifi- 
cation, breaking  out  at  his  mouth,  overran  his  face  and  disap- 
peared at  his  eyebrows. 

"Capt'n,"  said  he,  turning  to  me  after  a  long  pause  in  our 
talk,  "the  time  for  saying  good-by  has  pretty  nigh  come." 

"Yes,  it's  close  at  hand,"  said  I. 

"I  hope  we're  forgiven  the  wrong  we  done  yer?" 

"You  and  your  men  have  atoned  fully  and  handsomely. 
The  behavior  of  the  seamen  will  remain  one  of  the  most  mem- 
orable of  my  life  experiences.  Well  for  the  red  flag  if  there 
were  more  influences  of  your  sort  in  our  forecastles." 

He  sunk  his  head  in  a  solemn  gesture  of  thanks,  and  said: 
"As  our  oath  has  been  kept  by  us,  so  you'll  keep  your'n,  sir." 

"Undoubtedly." 

"It'll  take  us  some  time  to  settle  down,  and  we  dorn't  want 
to  be  broke  up  just  when  we've  got  comfortable." 

"You'll  not  be  broken  up  through  me." 

"We  shall  hoist  the  flag  arter  we've  got  a  spar  set  up,  and 
then  take  possession.  There's  a  beautiful  valley  t'other  side, 
past  that  hill  there;  that's  where  we  mean  to  build!  It's 
convenient  for  the  lagoon,  which  we'll  make  a  road  ter  in 
doo  course." 

"Your  first  act,  I  suppose,  will  be  to  marry  yourselves?" 

"I'll  see  to  that,"  he  answered,  with  a  stiff,  severe  air,  as  if 
he  would  have  no  levity  in  that  direction. 

"Who'll  marry  you  to  Miss  Cobbs?" 

"The  party  I  delegates;  him  as  I  empowers  by  my  rights  as 


3°6  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

president  helect, "  he  answered  fluently,  as  though  the  subject 
had  been  long  ago  argued  and  settled. 

"It's  a  heroic  undertaking,"  said  I,  looking  at  the  island 
that  was  fast  broadening  and  deepening  into  proportion  and 
beauty,  though  frightful  for  loneliness  to  my  mind,  figuring  it 
as  I  did  on  the  chart,  and  thinking  of  the  leagues  and  leagues 
the  sea  went  away  from  it  on  all  hands  ere  washing  the  land 
of  white  men  and  the  civilization  of  Australia  and  South 
America.  "How  shall  one  get  to  hear  whether  you  nourish 
or  not?" 

"Ah!"  said  he,  "there  can't  be  no  noosepapers  with  us  for 
yet  a  bit.  But  it's  a  home  and  a  beautiful  one;  as  much  land 
as  is  in  a  hundred  gentlemen's  seats,  as  Miss  Cobbs  truly  says, 
only  finer,  cultivated  by  the  fust  of  all  gardeners — Natur; 
such  a  home  as  I  dorn't  wonder  makes  many  of  them  poor 
women  down  there  wild  to  share,  but  it  couldn't  be.  There'd 
be  nothen  but  rows.  Let  'em  find  pardners,  and  learn  civility, 
and  they'll  be  welcome  to  jine  us — if  they  can  find  us,"  he 
added,  with  a  dry  askew  glance  at  me. 

Thus  we  conversed.  I  saw  Miss  Cobbs  talking  with  Kate 
Darnley  in  the  waist ;  the  minutes  slipped  by ;  the  ship  drove 
along  over  smooth  water,  the  long  Pacific  swell  helping  her. 

"We're  close  enough  in,  I  think,"  said  I  presently.  A  fit 
of  nervousness  took  me  suddenly,  and  my  heart  beat  quick. 

"Back  the  main  topsail  yard!"  I  bawled.  ''Port  main 
brace!" 

The  girls,  full  of  zeal,  eagerness,  expectation,  rushed  aft  to 
where  the  ropes  led. 

"For  the  last  time,  sweethearts,"  cried  Alice  Perry,  in  a 
voice  merry  as  music  with  the  emotions  of  that  hour.  She 
struck  up  one  of  the  many  sailor  songs  she  and  the  rest  knew, 
and  the  girls  pulled  with  a  will  and  a  chorus.  The  topsail 
came  aback;  the  ship  lost  way. 

"Are  we  all  ready?"  shouted  Brigstock. 

His  party  answered  by  coming  quickly  from  the  forecastle, 
and  gathering  about  the  gangway. 

"Corbin,  take  the  wheel,"  said  I. 

She  replaced  Jackson,  who  came  along  smiling,  and  said, 
when  close  to  me,  "Is  it  to  be  good-by  here,  sir?" 

"If  you  please,  my  man,"  said  I. 

"Then  good-by,  and  God  bless  ye,"  said  he,  extending  his 
hand;  "and  may  you  have  a  prosperous  voyage  to  Sydney,  and 
do  as  well  by  our  stealing  of  you,  as  you  fared  ill  by  our  mis- 
understanding of  yer." 

I  shook  his  hand,  and  he  left  the  poop. 


THE   START  FOR   SYDNEY.  307 

They  lowered  the  quarter-boat  they  meant  to  take  and  keep, 
brought  the  longboat  to  the  gangway,  and  got  the  steps  over. 
Brigstock  stood  with  his  hands  upon  the  brass  rail  of  the  poop- 
break,  looking  round  and  along  the  ship  as  though  to  make 
sure  he'd  forgotten  nothing.  He  turned  to  me  in  a  minute 
or  two,  and  said: 

"Is  there  nothen  we  can  do  for  you,  capt'n,  afore  we  go?" 

"Nothing." 

"The  anchors  are  at  the  catheads,"  said  he,  "all's  ready 
with  your  ground  tackle.  But  how  about  your  canvas,  sir?" 
he  continued,  rolling  up  his  eyes  at  the  sails.  "Would  yer 
like  us  to  leave  you  snugger?  None  of  the  gells  I  expect  '11 
be  able  to  handle  them  main  and  fore  top's'ls." 

I  told  him  I  meant  to  keep  the  vessel  under  the  shortened 
canvas  she  now  carried;  should  it  come  on  to  blow,  I'd  lower 
the  yards,  haul  out  the  reef-tackles,  and  leave  the  rest  to  the 
gods.  I  said  I  looked  for  fine  weather.  If  I  wanted  help  I'd 
shift  my  helm  for  it;  it  could  never  be  far  off  in  this  ocean  of 
islands  and  whalers. 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  dull  admiration  in  his  slow  gaze; 
then,  going  to  the  rail  and  observing  the  boats  were  ready,  this 
formal,  solemn  mid-century  reproduction  of  the  famous  muti- 
neer, Christian,  returned  and  said: 

"Capt'n,  we're  ready  to  go." 

"I'll  bid  you  all  good-by  at  the  gangway,"  said  I,  and  went 
on  to  the  quarter-deck. 

The  women  crowded  about  the  settlers,  as  I  call  them,  and 
stared  at  the  sailors  and  girls  as  though  they  had  been  stran- 
gers, just  come  over  the  side.  The  prevalent  emotion  was 
wonder;  the  looks  of  most  of  the  females  expressed  it.  They 
hardly  spoke.  The  partners,  on  the  other  hand,  waiting  for 
Brigstock  and  perhaps  for  me,  chatted  briskly  with  the  seamen. 

When  Brigstock  joined  them  they  were  twenty-six  in  all. 
I  could  not  view  them  without  feeling  a  little  affected. 
Doubtless  I  refined  upon  their  thoughts.  There  was  nothing 
in  their  faces,  in  the  notes  of  their  laughter  and  talk  to  infuse 
a  melancholy  into  my  contemplation  of  what  lay  before  them. 
Then  again,  in  fruit  and  fish  there  was  abundance  to  subsist  on, 
though  the  island  should  remain  unvisited  for  years.  Still, 
the  association  of  shipboard  life  wrought  in  me.  I  could  not 
behold  those  people  thus  departing,  thus  exiling  themselves, 
my  own  countrymen  and  countrywomen,  full  of  brave  hopes 
and  sturdy  resolves,  intrepid  as.  any  family  that  ever  set  sail 
from  the  shores  of  our  native  country  to  extend  our  dominion 
by  perilous  exploration  and  by  labor  hard,  patient,  and 


3°8  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

obscure;  I  say  I  could  not  view  them  without  emotion,  with- 
out being  moved  for  a  little  to  a  degree  that  had  nearly 
dimmed  my  eyes. 

"Captain  Morgan,"  said  Brigstock,  taking  off  his  hat  and 
extending  his  hand,  "farewell,  and  may  God's  eye  be  upon 
yer,  and  upon  all  these  people  who  have  only  you  to  look  to, 
after  the  Almighty,  for  protection  and  safety." 

"Mr.  Brigstock,"  I  answered,  "from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  I  wish  you  well.  May  your  settlement  prosper,  and 
may  your  name  achieve  the  renown  the  heroic  example  you 
have  set  your  followers  entitles  you  to." 

I  then  shook  hands  with  Miss  Cobbs.  This  seemed  to  me 
the  only  unreal  passage  in  the  whole  prosaic  piece.  While  I 
looked  at  her  I  could  not  believe  it  possible  that  this  highly 
respectable  person,  with  her  sausage  curls  and  prim  attire,  was 
one,  indeed  the  leader,  of  the  women  who  were  going  ashore 
to  live  with  thirteen  seamen,  first  under  canvas,  then  in  bam- 
boo houses.  With  one  after  another  of  the  settlers,  male  and 
female,  I  shook  hands.  This  was  followed  by  some  hand- 
shaking between  the  people  who  were  going,  and  a  few,  but  a 
few  only,  of  the  emigrants.  The  flourish  of  farewell  being 
ended,  the  women  were  handed  into  the  boats  by  the  men, 
who  followed  them  and  then  cast  off;  Brigstock  steering  the 
longboat,  and  sour  Harding  the  quarter-boat. 

I  ran  on  to  the  poop,  and  Kate  came  after  me,  and  together 
we  stood  looking.  My  girl  sailors  lined  the  rail,  and  a  crowd 
of  women  got  on  to  the  forecastle.  I  meant  to  watch  the  boats 
vanish  in  the  creek  before  trimming  for  Sydney.  When  they 
had  gone  about  a  cable's  length,  all  the  people  stood  up  and 
cheered  the  ship  loud  and  long;  that  large  cry  of  farewell  came 
to  the  ear  edged  with  the  female  voices  in  it.  I  flourished  my 
cap,  and  roared  back  a  cheer,  and  Kate  waved  her  hand,  and 
a  few  women  forward  flourished  to  the  boats,  but  the  greater 
mass  of  us  were  mute  as  death,  and  deadly  was  the  chill  of 
that  silence  upon  the  spirits,  generous  at  the  sight  and  warmed 
by  the  huzzaing  of  those  departing  men  and  women. 

"It  is  a  spiteful  sex!  "  I  burst  out. 

"They  hate  Cobbs,"  said  Kate. 

"for  such  kitchen  trollops  to  sneer!"  I  exclaimed,  savage 
with  the  silence  of  the  women.  "Cobbs  or  no  Cobbs,  there 
goes  the  making  of  a  great  nation  in  those  boats!" 

She  seemed  to  measure  the  island,  then  looked  at  me  with  a 
smile. 

In  the  boats  they  continued  to  strain  their  eyes  at  the  ship. 
The  faces  of  the  women,  all  turned  our  way,  were  white  as 


THE   START  FOR   SYDNEY.  309 

paper.  It  was  the  one  thrilling  passage  in  their  experiences; 
the  last  sigh  as  it  were  in  the  death  scene;  the  pause  of  the 
gallows  before  the  hangman  draws  his  bolt ;  the  flash  ere  the 
murderous  missile  strikes;  a  something  soul-moving  in  the 
instant  of  its  doing.  I  could  not  shift  my  eyes  from  the  boats; 
they  constrained  me  as  by  magic;  and,  when  at  last  they  van- 
ished in  the  creek  I  gave  a  sigh  as  though  I  had  been  sobbing, 
then  came  to  myself  on  a  sudden  with  desperate  perception  of 
my  great  responsibilities. 

Needless  to  say,  I  had  long  before,  in  these  five  days  of 
waiting  off  the  island,  explored  the  charts  in  the  cabin  and 
settled  upon  the  course  to  be  steered;  and  I  determined  to 
start  by  heading  due  south,  till  I  should  have  struck  the  lati- 
tude of  26°  or  27°;  then  heading  due  west  I  should  have  a 
wide  field  of  clear  Pacific  before  me,  nothing  to  trouble  about 
in  the  shape  of  land,  providing  I  was  not  blown  to  the  north- 
ward, till  we  should  have  reached  the  longitude  of  175°.  We 
should  then  be  within  easy  sail  of  Sydney. 

The  moment  the  boats  had  disappeared,  and  I  had  come  to 
myself,  so  to  speak,  I  stepped  from  the  rail  and  looking  round 
me  I  shouted: 

"Now,  girls,  hurrah  for  Sydney!  Let's  get  that  main  top- 
sail swung,  and  away  we  go!" 

"Hurrah  for  Sydney!"  echoed  Alice  Perry,  springing  into 
the  air. 

"Now's  to  show  what  we're  made  of!"  cried  Emmy 
Reed. 

"Brace  round  lively,  sweethearts!"  I  bawled. 

The  girls,  perfectly  disciplined  by  this  time  as  you'll  sup- 
pose, judging  by  the  prodigious  pains  I  had  taken,  fled  with- 
out the  least  disorder  to  the  several  braces;  and  in  a  moment 
the  poop  was  alive  with  bending  and  lifting  figures,  all  pulling 
as  rhythmically  together  as  a  pendulum  swings;  and  the  wind 
was  gay  with  their  girlish  chanting  of  sailors'  songs. 

There  were  thirty  of  them ;  not  one  had  so  far  failed  me. 
Long  since  they  had  become  as  accustomed  to  their  garb  as  I 
to  mine;  all  novelty  had  many  weeks  before  passed  out  of  thai 
condition  of  their  training;  it  was  as  commonplace  and  famil- 
iar a  detail  of  our  everyday  life  as  my  shooting  the  sun,  or  the 
getting  of  our  meals. 

We  had  soon  trimmed  sail,  but  the  wind  directly  headed  us, 
and,  fearful  of  reefs  if  I  stood  to  the  westward,  I  kept  the  ship 
on  the  starboard  tack,  proposing  a  twenty-four  hours'  board 
so  if  the  wind  held.  It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  when  we 
started;  the  sail  we  had  hove-to  under  was  the  sail  I  carried, 


310  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

nothing  above  a  main  topgallant  sail,  and  the  mainsail  was 
furled. 

When  we  had  braced  to  the  breeze,  and  the  girls  had  coiled 
down,  I  went  to  the  break  of  the  poop,  and  called  the  women 
to  assemble  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  to  my  crew  to  gather 
about  me.  Susannah  Corbin  was  at  the  wheel,  handling  the 
helm  as  artistically  as  any  able  seaman  I  ever  sailed  with.  I 
waited  while  the  women  collected,  and  now  it  was  that  I  real- 
ized the  position  I  was  in.  I  don't  mean  to  say  I  had  not  all 
along  clearly  grasped  the  significance  of  my  scheme  to  carry 
this  ship  to  port  with  women  only;  all  that  it  involved, 
every  possibility  of  successful,  perilous,  or  tragic  issue,  I  had 
perceived  and  dwelt  on  over  and  over  again;  but  at  this 
moment  realization  was  rendered  acute,  in  a  sense  before 
impossible:  first,  by  the  absence  of  the  seamen,  then  by  our 
being  under  way,  by  the  sight  of  the  crowds  dependent  upon 
me,  by  the  emptiness  of,  by  the  silence  in,  that  forecastle 
yonder. 

The  women  assembled  on  the  quarter-deck;  my  crew,  as  I 
call  them,  ranged  themselves  on  either  hand,  in  divisions  of 
port  and  starboard  watches,  for  long  ago  they  had  been  thus 
divided  and  regularly  mustered.  We  were  now,  all  told, 
seventy-seven  souls;  that  is,  seventy-six  women  and  one 
man. 

"I  haven't  called  you  together  to  make  a  speech,"  said  I 
after  a  pause.  "We're  bound  to  Sydney  at  last,  and  there's 
not  one  of  you  but  will  do  her  dead  best  to  help  me  to  get 
there.  My  duty  is  to  arrange  for  the  discipline  of  the  ship. 
I  am  captain,  of  course;  my  chief  mate  is  Alice  Perry,  with 
whom  I  associate  Miss  Kate  Darnley;  they  will  keep  a  lookout 
together.  My  second  mate  is  Miss  Emmy  Reed,  with  whom 
I  associate  Charlotte  Brown.  My  crew  know  their  duties, 
they  are  fifteen  in  each  watch ;  and,  after  the  forecastle  has 
been  cleaned  and  made  fit  for  their  reception,  they  will  occupy 
it,  as  being  more  convenient  for  quickly  answering  a  call  than 
the  'tween  decks.  These  arrangements,  I  hope,  are  to  your 
satisfaction?" 

A  murmur  of  assent  arose  from  among  my  crew;  the  women 
on  the  quarter-deck  made  no  sign,  perhaps  holding  that  this 
part  of  the  discipline  did  not  concern  them. 

"The  seven  who  can  steer  will  do  so  by  rotation;  Corbin 
starts,  and  the  helmswomen  will  arrange  among  themselves 
as  to  how  the  succession  shall  run  when  two  hours'  trick  is 
up.  And  now,"  said  I,  leaning  over  the  rail  to  address  the 
females  below,  "we  shall  want  a  cook  and  a  cook's  mate:  call 


THE   START  FOR  SYDNEY.  311 

it  two  cooks.  There  are  many  of  you  perfectly  qualified  for 
that  situation.  The  two  ladies  who  cook  will  have  nothing 
else  to  do.  I  call  for  volunteers." 

Several  hands  were  raised,  and  a  number  of  women  cried 
out  together. 

"Two  only,"  said  I. 

'"Taint  an  orfice  to  be  jumped  for,"  shouted  Emma  Marks. 
"What's  there  to  cook?" 

"Time  we  got  a  meal  fit  to  eat,"  cried  a  woman. 

"Who  can  make  pies  and  currant  puddens?"  yelled  another. 
"It's  been  salt  pork  and  salt  beef  ever  since  "ome." 

"Settle  it  among  yourselves,"  said  I;  "we  shall  want  our 
dinner,  and  it's  drawing  on  to  twelve  o'clock." 

Kate,  who  stood  in  the  crowd,  proposed  that  those  who 
desired  to  be  cooks  should  draw  for  the  post;  after  much 
wrangling  it  was  agreed  that  two  women,  whose  names  I  forget, 
should  take  the  galley  work,  and  they  went  forward  laughing 
and  highly  pleased. 

"I  shall  want  a  steward.     Who'll  wait  upon  me?"  said  I. 

A  general  shout  followed  this.  The  post  of  steward  seemed 
even  more  coveted  than  that  of  cook. 

"Let  Miss  Darnley  wait  on  yer,"  called  Emma  Marks. 

There  was  so  much  eagerness  that  I  perceived  it  would  be 
hopeless  to  wait  for  the  women  to  agree.  To  end  the  diffi- 
culty, I  fastened  my  eye  upon  Sarah  Harvey,  who,  as  you  may 
remember,  was  a  short,  very  strong  hunchback,  with  a  fierce 
squint,  and  coarse  red  hair ;  of  a  countenance  and  shape  as 
though  fashioned  after  a  design  by  Hogarth;  and,  pointing  to 
her,  I  sung  out: 

"Miss  Harvey,  will  you  wait  upon  me  in  the  cabin?" 

She  squinted  with  astonishment,  suspecting  a  joke;  the 
vulgar-minded  laughed,  and  an  alley  laugh  it  was!  I  put  on 
a  stern  face,  and  said: 

"Harvey,  will  you  or  won't  you  wait  upon  me  in  the  cabin?" 

"If  you  are  in  earnest,  I  will,  and  gladly,"  she  answered, 
coloring. 

"Then  you're  the  steward.  I'll  tell  you  your  duties  by 
and  by." 

I  spoke  peremptorily;  and  my  manner  and  face  silenced  the 
girls,  some  of  whom  might  otherwise  have  diverted  themselves 
at  Sarah  Harvey's  expense. 

"Now,  ladies,"  said  I,  "a  situation's  vacant  by  Miss  Cobbs' 
withdrawal.  We  must  have  a  matron.  We  must  appoint 
some  head  who'll  be  responsible  for  the  cleanliness  of  your 
quarters,  contrive  that  your  meals  are  punctually  served,  act 


312  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

as  referee  in  disputes.  You  recognize  the  necessity  for  such 
a  head?" 

Many  answered  "Yes." 

"Then,"  said  I,  "I  leave  it  to  you  to  choose  the  likeliest 
person  among  you.  Whoever  is  kind,  and  amiable,  and  popu- 
lar, let  her  be  your  choice." 

There  were  no  more  posts  for  the  women  to  fill;  all  other 
work  would  be  mine.  I  told  them  I  should  be  satisfied  if  they 
chose  a  head  by  sundown,  and  then,  thanking  them  for  their 
attendance,  I  called  to  Kate  to  come  up  and  walk  the  deck  on 
a  lookout  with  Perry,  and  went  forward. 

I  looked  into  the  galley;  the  two  women  were  waiting  for 
provisions  to  cook.  I  put  a  few  questions  to  them,  and,  having 
satisfied  myself  that  they  understood  the  sea  equipment  of  this 
big  emigrant  caboose,  I  called  Sarah  Harvey,  told  off  four  of 
the  girls,  and  bade  them  accompany  me ;  and,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  these  five  women,  I  sent  forward  out  of  the  lazarette, 
pantry,  and  harness  cask,  all  the  supplies  necessary  to  provide 
the  women  with  a  dinner. 

The  girls  crowded  round  the  galley  to  watch  the  two  cooks 
at  work.  As  I  passed  on  my  way  to  the  forecastle,  I  heard 
one  say: 

"Soak  a  biscuit  with  currants — it  'ud  bake  nicely." 

And  another:  "Try  your  'and  at  a  pie;  whether  beef  or 
pork;  mince  it  fine;  mix  with  biscuit;  the  tinned  meat  '11 
make  gravy "  I  lost  the  rest. 

I  walked  quickly  into  the  forecastle,  feeling  uneasy  when 
the  ship  was  out  of  my  sight.  This  sea  parlor  was  a  large 
interior,  corresponding,  as  a  structure,  with  the  raised  deck 
aft.  It  was  a  gloomy  cave,  but  dry  and  clean,  and  sweet 
enough  in  smell ;  the  front  of  it  was  blocked  by  the  great 
windlass,  and  the  shadow  lay  heavy  under  the  break  there;  the 
chain  cables  were  bent,  and  the  lengths  of  massive  rusty  links 
arched  serpent-like,  sheer  through  the  interior  from  the  wind- 
lass barrel  to  the  hawsepipe.  The  forecastle  was  a  little 
square;  the  sunshine  streamed  through  it,  and  lay  in  a  flood 
of  light  on  the  deck  beneath.  The  sailors  had  made  a  clean 
sweep;  chests,  bedding,  clothes,  and  blankets — everything 
was  gone.  Nothing  survived  the  Jacks'  occupancy  but  a  black 
bowl  of  pipe  in  the  midst  of  the  sunshine,  and  an  old  sea 
boot. 

Two  rows  of  bunks  went  on  either  hand  into  the  eyes  of  the 
ship;  with  these  and  the  cabins  to  port  and  starboard  outside, 
intended  for  the  use  of  the  ship's  bo'sun,  sailmaker,  and  car- 
penter,  I  calculated  berthing  room  for  twenty-two;  which  was 


THE   START  FOR   SYDNEY.  313 

all  I  needed,  since  of  the  thirty  girls,  fifteen  turn  and  turn 
about  must  be  continuously  up  and  dressed,  ready  for  a  call. 

I  am  entering  into  these  minute  particulars  at  the  risk  of 
fatiguing  you,  but  this  is  a  voyage  memorable  in  tradition.  I 
have  never  yet  told  the  story,  and  now  that  I  am  upon  it  the 
whole  seafaring  world  will  be  interested  to  learn  how  I  managed. 

My  present  anxiety  was  to  settle  the  discipline  of  the  ship, 
that  I  might  devote  myself  to  the  navigation  of  her.  As  I  was 
walking  aft  a  number  of  women  crossed  the  deck ;  they  were 
among  the  most  respectable  of  the  people;  one  of  them 
explained. 

'  'We  wish  Miss  Darnley  would  take  the  post  of  matron. 
She's  our  choice,  if  she's  willing." 

I  thought  a  minute,  and  then  considered  the  notion  good. 

"She  shall  be  the  matron,"  said  I;  "but  you  must  support 
her  authority.  The  pudding  is  a  pretty  gritty  one  with  your 
Emma  Marks  and  others,  and  I  don't  want  the  job  of  biting 
to  prove  tooth-breaking  to  Miss  Darnley." 

They  all,  in  several  forms  of  expression,  promised  to  back 
her  up.  I  then  went  on  the  poop,  where  she  was  standing 
beside  Alice  Perry.  It  startled  me  for  a  breath,  though  used 
as  I  was  to  the  sight  even,  and  accustomed  as  my  mind  was  to 
the  thought  of  it,  to  see  that  figure  of  a  boy  at  the  wheel; 
other  figures  of  boys  standing  about  the  poop,  and  that  boyish 
figure  alongside  Kate.  And  not  that  only,  but  to  feel  that  I 
was  the  only  man  in  the  ship! 

Perry  stood  with  her  hand  upon  the  main  royal  backstay, 
looking  to  sea;  she  made  a  handsome  sailorly  lad ;  had  she 
but  cropped  her  hair,  you'd  have  thought  her  the  beau  ideal  of 
a  young  English  seaman,  with  her  cloth  cap  on  the  back  of 
her  head,  her  rough  hair  tossed  upon  her  forehead,  her  eyes 
fixed,  as  though  she  watched  an  object  afar,  the  coarse  beauty 
of  her  profile  showing  clear-cut  against  the  sky,  her  glowing 
lips  parted,  her  figure  swaying  on  the  long-drawn  heave  of  the 
plank.  Kate  might  have  been  her  sweetheart;  it  was  the  mas- 
culine, vulgar  beauty  of  the  one  that  made  her  the  manly  figure 
she  looked;  the  other  was  all  refinement,  you  saw  the  lady  in 
her  the  plainer  for  the  face  and  bearing  of  her  companion. 

"Kate,"  said  I. 

She  turned  and  came  to  me. 

"They  want  you  to  be  matron." 

She  made  a  face,  and  looked  at  the  women  on  the  main  deck. 

"Take  the  post,  dear." 

I  had  never  called  her  that  before.  She  colored,  and  stared, 
and  said:  "They  won't  obey  me." 


3M  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"The  best  of  them  will  back  you,  and  then  there's  my 
authority." 

"What  shall  I  have  to  do?" 

I  ran  over  Hannah  Cobbs'  routine,  dwelling  strongly  on 
the  necessity  of  the  airing  of  the  bedding,  of  keeping  the 
'tween  decks  well  washed  and  sweet,  and  thoroughly  ventilated. 

"Think  of  sickness  happening,"  said  I,  "of  a  fever  break- 
ing out.  They're  an  illiterate,  raw,  slum-like  lot  ir  the  mass, 
and  need  such  a  head  as  you." 

After  a  short  chat  to  this  effect  she  consented,  and  left  me 
to  arrange  for  the  mess,  and  to  see  that  the  people  got  their 
dinner. 

"What's  the  sign  of  a  change  of  weather?"  said  Alice  Perry, 
rolling  up  to  me.  There  is  a  theatrical  instinct  and  talent  of 
impersonation  in  all  women,  and  this  girl,  when  dressed  as  a 
man,  rolled  in  her  walk  as  though  she  had  used  the  sea  all 
her  life. 

"A  ring  round  the  moon,  clouds  to  windward,  twenty 
things;  but  the  sure  sign's  the  barometer." 

"I  want  to  know  what  to  look  out  for  when  I  keep  watch," 
said  she. 

"Observe  the  ship's  course;  see  that  the  girl  at  the  wheel 
holds  her  straight,  or  we  shall  be  ashore.  Keep  awake.  Be 
careful  of  that  at  night.  Miss  Darnley's  going  to  be  matron; 
I'll  take  her  place,  and  be  your  associate  in  keeping  watch." 

She  smiled,  and  said,  "I'm  still  your  chief  mate,  aint  I?" 

"Oh,  yes." 

"I  mean  to  keep  this,"  said  she,  swinging  the  silver  whistle. 

"So  you  shall,"  said  I,  and  left  her  to  see  how  Susannah 
Corbin  was  doing  at  the  wheel. 

It  was  a  fine,  clear,  brilliant  day,  a  wonderful  picture  of 
little  gilt  clouds  in  the  air,  rolling  along  with  the  wind  in  puffs, 
as  though  some  vast  globe' of  vapor  had  burst  in  orbs  or  bulbs; 
I  found  the  ship's  course  true  to  a  hair. 

"Well  done,"  said  I.  "You're  the  girl  to  haul  in  the  slack, 
eh,  Susannah?  You're  the  sort  for  the  homeward  bounder's 
tow  rope." 

"Whoy,"  she  answered  with  a  laugh,  "what  'ud  father  ha' 
thought  if  I  couldn't  steer  a  ship?" 

I  looked  at  the  island.  Already  its  features  were  sunk  in 
shadow,  and  it  hung  like  a  long  blue  cloud  upon  the  sea. 
Were  the  people  there  watching  the  gleaming  shaft  our  canvas 
made  upon  the  ocean?  Had  any  of  them  already  repented  of 
their  resolution?  Why,  thought  I,  I  might  figure  them  as  pen- 
sively gazing  at  our  distant  sail,  a  melancholy,  regretful  crowd 


A    SECOND   SUICIDE.  315 

upon  some  hillside,  when,  in  reality,  they  at  this  very  moment 
might  be  making  a  jolly  picnic  holiday  of  the  hours,  sitting  in 
a  ring  round  a  banquet  of  fruit  and  ship  dainties,  talking  and 
ogling,  enjoying  to  the  very  heart  of  them  the  coolness  of  the 
fragrant  shade,  and  the  beauty  and  color  of  the  trees,  and 
wild  plants,  after  their  months  of  salt  pork  and  'tween  decks; 
looking  forward  with  gay  hearts  to  encamping  for  the  night, 
and  to  choosing  on  the  morrow,  some  fairy  scene  of  estate  for 
the  building  of  houses  and  the  digging  of  plantations. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A    SECOND    SUICIDE. 

WE  had  run  the  island  out  of  sight  by  four  o'clock,  at  which 
hour  I  was  noticing,  with  some  uneasiness,  a  windy  appearance 
in  the  sky  northeast.  The  breeze  still  blew  out  of  the  south, 
a  pleasant  sailing  wind,  but  the  canvas  we  were  under  was 
half  as  much  as  we  could  have  expanded,  and  when,  with  the 
help  of  four  of  the  girls,  I  hove  the  log — a  machine  my  crew 
were  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  use  of — I  found  the  speed 
six,  when  it  might  easily  have  been  made  nine. 

About  this  hour  a  sail  sprang  up  on  the  weather  bow.  I 
fetched  the  glass,  and  found  she  was  heading  directly  for  us. 
Anxiety  was  lying  very  heavy  upon  my  spirits  at  this  time. 
The  sight  of  that  sail  seemed  almost  like  a  heavenly  injunction 
to  me  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  men  to  work  the  ship.  Reso- 
lution will  swerve  though  it  keeps  the  onward  path;  I  own  my 
mind  reeled  to  and  fro  while  I  looked  at  the  distant  sail.  A 
crowd  of  women  were  about  the  galley  door,  with  Kate  in  the 
thick  of  them,  seeing,  as  I  took  it,  that  the  girls'  supper  was 
being  got  ready. 

Alice  Perry  stood  near  me,  her  gaze  fixed  upon  the  approach- 
ing craft.  I  stared  at  her  a  minute,  and  then  called  her. 

"You're  one  of  the  most  sensible  of  all  my  girls,"  said  I. 
"Give  me  your  opinion." 

"About  what?"  she  answered,  with  a  sudden  brisk  expres- 
sion in  her  face;  for  now,  when  I  had  a  word  of  kindness, 
sympathy,  or  confidence  for  this  girl,  she  would  color  and 
•glow  in  cheeks  and  eyes,  as  though  every  pulse  in  her  quick- 
ened its  beat. 

"Will  you  girls  stick  to  your  work?" 

"Why  shouldn't  we?"  she  said.  "It's  light  and  jolly 
enough,  and  it  aint  going  to  last  long." 


316  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"Yonder  comes  a  ship;  a  signal  might  bring  two  or  three 
hands  in  her  to  help  us  along.  What  do  you  think?" 

"What  do  I  think?"  she  cried.  "Why,  that  you  don't 
trust  us." 

"I  trust  you  all;  but  have  you  strength  and  will  to  hold 
out?  There's  a  month — there  may  be  six  weeks  before  us." 

"Have  we  failed  you  once?" 

"No." 

"Look  at  little  Ellen  Clark  there  at  the  wheel!  Is  there 
e'er  a  man  in  that  ship  out  there  a-going  to  do  better?  Is  it 
that  we  haven't  the  spirit?  Then  we  Aave,  one  and  all! 
Some  may  lose  it  by  and  by,  but  there's  others  with  plenty  of 
courage,  ready  to  take  their  places.  Oh,  capt'n,  why,  what's 
makin'  your  heart  low  all  of  a  sudden  like  this?" 

She  fixed  her  fiery  eyes  on  me,  and  watched  steadily.  It 
was  as  though  the  strange,  wild,  coarse,  handsome  creature 
sought  to  stare  her  own  burning  spirit  and  temper  out  of  her 
into  me.  I  let  her  look,  meeting  her  full,  then  smiled,  but  as 
I  smiled  she  frowned,  till  she  looked  haggishly  fierce  and 
malevolent. 

"It's  been  understood  from  the  beginning,"  she  cried,  "that 
us  girls  of  your  crew  are  to  sail  the  ship  to  Sydney." 

I  felt  a  little  afraid  of  her. 

"S'help  me  God!"  she  exclaimed,  "if  I  had  your  larnin' 
'bout  the  sun  and  things,  I'd  take  the  ship  off  your  'ands,  and 
save  yer  all  the  trouble.  We  don't  want  no  men  'ere.  We've 
had  enough  of  that.  If  e'er  a  one  comes,  I  and  the  rest  will 
give  up — and  I  don't  know  about  that  either,"  she  cried  out, 
in  a  voice  that  was  beginning  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
women  within  earshot.  "What  '11  ha'  bin  the  good  of  us  pull- 
ing and  hauling,  learnin'  to  steer,  running  up  them  ladders,  if 
we're  to  give  up  when  everything's  settled,  and  all's  goin'  along 
sweetly  nice,  because,  being  a  gentleman,  you  can't  put  your 
trust  in  pore  girls  of  our  class.  If  men  are  to  come,  fired  if 
some  of  us  don't  make  it  too  'ot  f or  them  to  be  of  use  to  yer." 

I  put  on  a  stern  face,  not  choosing  her  to  suppose  I  could 
endure  such  talk  and  airs;  but  secretly  I  was  never  better 
pleased  with  anything  than  the  spirit  she  was  now  showing. 
I  feigned  to  look  sullenly,  as  though  I  was  offended,  and 
then  said: 

"Well,  I  hope  all  the  rest  of  the  girls  will  prove  as  heroic  as 
you.  I  don't  like  your  speech,  but  I  love  your  heart;"  and, 
softening  my  eyes,  I  gave  her  a  faint  smile,  that  she  might  see 
how  it  stood  between  us,  and  walked  away. 

The  ship  was  abreast  of  us  in  an  hour ;    the  breeze   had 


A    SECOND   SUICIDE.  3*7 

freshened  out  of  the  south,  and  the  heel  of  our  vessel  was  lift- 
ing the  leeward  water  yellow  as  cream  to  the  chain-plate  bolts, 
and  spinning  it  in  a  giddy  dazzle  of  eddies  off  the  quarters 
into  a  fan-shaped  wake,  which  glanced  with  the  glare  of  snow 
astern,  where  the  blue  sea  was  brokenly  tumbling  abreast  of 
the  moist  red  face  of  the  sinking  sun. 

The  stranger  was  a  big  full-rigged  ship,  light  as  a  cask,  with 
painted  ports,  and  half  her  own  height  of  green  sheathing 
showing.  The  sallow  color  of  the  Spaniard  flew  at  her  peak. 
She  was  probably  from  around  the  Horn,  for  the  Philippines, 
on  a  true  Jack  Spaniard  course  for  those  islands.  My  girls 
had  never  been  taught  to  handle  the  signal  halliards,  and  I 
made  no  sign.  I  stood  close  beside  the  helm,  keeping  an 
anxious  eye  upon  the  little  spectacled  woman  Clark,  ready  to 
instantly  grasp  the  wheel,  if  the  need  arose. 

The  two  ships  passed  within  easy  speaking  distance;  we 
could  distinguish  the  faces  of  the  people  on  board  her.  A 
whole  crowd  of  men  filled  her  forecastle,  and  a  number  of 
people  of  both  sexes  surveyed  us  from  the  poop.  Doubtless 
they  had  no  difficulty  in  guessing  what  we  were:  the  heaps  of 
women  on  our  decks  would  explain  our  character.  But  what 
was  an  English  female  emigrant  ship  doing  up  in  these  parts? 
And  Sancta  Maria  purissima  !  who  the  dickens  were  all  those 
boys,  staring  along  the  line  of  the  poop  rail? 

She  yawed  just  before  she  came  abreast,  as  though  she 
would  close  us  to  see  better.  A  man  sprang  into  the  mizzen 
rigging,  and  yelled  out;  I  silently  flourished  my  hand.  She 
was  squat,  wall-sided,  a  rude,  square-ended  wagon,  with  stump 
topgallant  masts;  but  the  sun  cast  a  splendor  upon  her,  and 
she  went  away  clothed  in  beauty  not  her  own. 

I  had  snatched  a  good  view  of  the  fellows  on  her  forecastle, 
and  observed  them  to  be  of  a  hairy,  chocolate-colored  type, 
some  of  them  negroes;  many  wore  the  sugar-loaf  hat,  and  sev- 
eral were  hardly  clothed  in  shirt  and  breeches.  The  sight  of 
them  surprisingly  reconciled  me  to  my  resolution;  as  though 
that  ship  had  been  hove  up  to  strengthen  rather  than  stagger 
my  scheme.  All  my  old  passion  of  dislike  to  the  idea  of 
loosing  a  strange  crew  of  men  among  the  girls,  came  upon  me 
afresh.  I  figured  half  a  score  of  those  Spaniards  in  my  fore- 
castle; I  witnessed  the  thirsty  roll  of  their  eyes  over  the 
women;  I  imaged  them  coming  together  in  a  gang,  just  down 
there,  in  the  shadow  of  the  break  of  the  forecastle,  making 
their  whispers  tragically  significant  by  side  looks  aft,  and  a 
frequent  caress  of  the  sheath  knife  strapped  to  their  hips;  I 
thought  of  myself  unarmed — alone. 


318  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"No,  by  thunder,  Clark,"  cried  I  to  the  astonished  girl  at 
the  wheel;  "Perry's  right.  We'll  'keep  .all  on'  as  we  are!" 

When  the  Spanish  vessel  had  diminished  into  a  small  square 
of  faint  crimson  light  right  astern,  with  the  dark  sea  ridging 
between,  and  the  line  of  the  horizon  faint  and  doubtful  as  mist 
in  the  west,  where  the  sky  was  barred  with  streaks,  like  gashes 
of  rusty,  blood-red  light,  the  dark  scud  out  of  the  south  pour- 
ing through  the  dying  radiance  like  so  much  smoke,  tht  weight 
went  out  of  the  wind  on  a  sudden  in  a  dead  drop;  and  aloft 
the  collapsed  and  startled  sails  beat  out  the  thunder  of  twenty 
small  guns,  while  in  that  strange  pause  the  briskness  left  the 
surge,  and  it  ran  softly,  with  a  sulky  lift  of  sea  to  right  and 
left,  that  made  one  think  of  a  sullen  pout  of  preparation  for  a 
whipping. 

I  guessed  what  was  to  come,  but  whence  I  knew  not,  till  a 
turn  in  the  flight  of  the  scud  overhead  gave  me  the  news.  It 
was  not  yet  eight  o'clock;  Clark  was  still  at  the  wheel. 

"Keep  your  helm  as  it  is!"  I  cried  to  her;  and  shouted 
with  all  my  lungs  for  Perry,  Lewis,  Brown,  Corbin — any  one 
of  them  to  lay  aft  to  the  lee  wheel. 

A  girl  came  rushing  up  the  poop  ladder  with  all  her  might; 
it  was  brave  little  Susannah  Corbin  of  Deal.  I  sprang  on  to 
the  main  deck  to  let  go  the  topgallant  halliards,  bellowing  like 
a  bull  to  the  girls  to  man  the  starboard  braces  and  square  the 
yards. 

This  was  testing  them !  And  splendidly  the  sweethearts 
responded!  Many  were  in  the  forecastle  when  my  cry 
sounded;  Emmy  Reed  and  Charlotte  Brown  as  joint  second 
mates  were  on  the  poop,  when  I  jumped  to  the  topgallant 
halliards;  save  these,  and  Clark  at  the  wheel,  not  five  of  the 
girls  were  on  deck  when  I  shouted  for  a  second  hand  to  the 
wheel.  But  scarcely  were  the  echoes  of  my  voice  hushed, 
when  all  the  girls  were  running  out  of  the  forecastle.  I 
shouted  instructions  as  they  came;  one  gang  fled  to  the  fore, 
another  to  the  after  braces,  and  ere  the  wind  hit  us  I  had 
trimmed  sail  to  the  flight  of  the  scud,  with  the  girls  standing 
quiet  and  breathing  hard  at  the  braces,  ready  for  further  haul- 
ing in  a  moment. 

It  was  a  shift  of  wind  neither  sudden,  nor  immediately  vio- 
lent, into  the  northeast,  and  when  the  first  slap  of  it  was  in 
our  canvas  I  shifted  the  helm  for  a  dead  on-end  run,  satisfied 
to  hold  a  southwest  course  till  noon  next  day.  Before  a 
couple  of  hours  had  passed,  it  had  hardened  from  a  royal 
breeze  into  a  blow  that  must  have  double  reefed  the  topsails  of 
a  ship  on  a  bowline.  But  we  were  rolling  dead  before  it,  with 


A    SECOND   SUICIDE.  319 

our  topgallant  yard  hoisted  afresh,  and  it  was  inexpressibly 
comforting  to  think,  not  only  that  this  wind  was  rushing  us 
onward  toward  Sydney,  at  ten  or  eleven  knots  in  the  hour,  but 
that  it  would  need  to  breeze  up  as  hard  again  to  reduce  me  to 
the  only  reefing  shift  it  had  ever  been  in  my  power  to  contem- 
plate; I  mean  lowering  the  topsail  yards  on  to  the  caps,  hauling 
out  the  reef  tackles,  and  taking  my  chance  of  the  rest. 

My  chief  anxiety  was  land  or  shoals — some  low,  ragged  line 
of  island  leaping  right  ahead  into  the  windy  moonshine,  or, 
worse  still,  a  little  tract  of  boiling  reef,  invisible  till  right 
under  the  jib  boom  end.  There  was  a  good  binocular  glass  in 
the  captain's  berth,  and  again  and  again  I  took  it  on  to  the 
forecastle,  and  stared  into  the  confused  blending  of  moonshine 
and  flying  vapor  and  haze  of  wind  till  my  eyes  reeled  and 
my  brain  was  sick. 

Another  huge  anxiety  of  mine,  too,  on  this,  our  first  night 
of  windy  weather,  was  the  helm;  it  takes  a  practiced  hand  to 
steer  a  running  ship;  we  had  a  following  sea  now,  and  the 
ship's  head  fell  off  and  came  to  as  the  surge  underran  her, 
rolling  in  snow  to  the  bows,  and  racing  aft  again  in  shattered 
Avhite  water,  like  an  avalanche  down  a  mountain  steep.  But, 
credit  me  or  not  as  you  will,  the  girls,  as  they  replaced  one 
another  at  the  helm  in  couples — Perry  and  Brown,  then  Lewis 
and  Hale,  then  Clark  and  Barker,  then  Corbin  and  Perry 
again — for  an  hour's  spell  at  a  time  was  as  long  as  their 
strength  was  equal  to — these  spirited,  heroic,  fearless  creat- 
ures, dressed  as  men,  and  acting  like  men,  revolved  the  spokes 
with  a  judgment  that  held  me  dumb,  meeting  her,  easing  her, 
keeping  her  nose  at  the  mean  of  the  swing  of  the  points  at  the 
lubbers'  mark,  with  such  coolness  and  skill  and  alertness, 
there  is  no  measure  for  my  admiration  while  I  recall  them. 

At  nine  o'clock  I  sent  for  Kate,  and  told  her  to  get  all  the 
women  below  out  of  the  way  of  my  girls,  who  might  be  easily 
thrown  into  confusion  in  the  darkness  should  the  decks  be 
crowded.  The  women  went  to  their  quarters  very  obediently; 
the  sudden  wild  weather  frightened  them;  they  were  subdued 
and  rendered  the  more  tractable,  too,  by  a  sort  of  wondering 
admiration  at  the  behavior  of  the  girls  of  my  crew.  Shortly 
before  ten,  Kate  reported  that  all  was  right  in  the  'tween 
decks.  As  Sarah  Harvey  had  turned  in,  I  asked  Kate  to  get 
some  wine  out  of  the  pantry,  and  fill  the  swing  trays  with 
refreshment  for  my  crew  during  the  night;  this  she  did,  also 
going  into  the  forecastle  to  see  that  all  was  safe  with  the  lamp ; 
I  then  told  her  to  go  below  to  bed,  and  we  bade  each  other 
good-night. 


320  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

It  frequently  rained  in  brief  black  squalls,  which  burst  in 
guns  over  the  quarter,  and  flashed  in  hissing  shrieks  into  our 
whole  topsails,  straining  them  and  the  topgallant  sail  till  they 
roared,  and  then  the  ship  piled  the  water  under  her  bows  as 
high  as  the  spritsail  yard.  But  these  spasms  of  weather  were 
soon  over;  the  moon  shone  green  and  clear  after  ten,  shearing 
through  the  scud,  which  she  whitened,  till  the  heavens  round 
about  her  seemed  filled  with  flying  steam. 

I  kept  the  starboard  watch  of  girls  on  deck ;  the  others  I 
sent  into  the  forecastle  for  rest  and  shelter.  Even  of  those 
who  remained,  two-thirds  I  dispatched  into  the  cuddy,  there 
to  sit  and  refresh  themselves.  At  times,  in  some  moon-bright 
interval,  when  the  wind  swept  steadily  and  when  all  the  ship 
needed  was  an  amidship  helm,  with  a  keen  eye  upon  the 
illuminated  compass  card  and  an  occasional  play  of  spoke  to 
hold  the  mean  of  the  oscillation  true,  I'd  step  below  to  say  a 
cheery  word  to  the  women  and  keep  them  awake  and  see  to 
them.  The  lamp  burned  brightly;  the  cuddy  looked  hospita- 
ble and  brilliant;  it  was  strange  to  see  eight  or  ten  girls,  dressed 
as  men,  sitting  at  the  table,  munching  biscuit  and  beef  and 
drinking  the  thin  red  wine,  of  which  Kate  had  put  three  or 
four  bottles  on  the  swing  trays. 

Once,  on  looking  into  the  cuddy,  I  found  Mary  Barker 
leaning  against  the  side  asleep,  with  her  head  on  Alice  Perry's 
shoulder.  A  sudden  movement  of  Perry  awoke  her;  she 
started,  and  began  to  talk  betwixt  dreaming  and  waking: 

"All  right;   I'm  awake.     Has  the  cook  gone  downstairs?" 

A  shriek  of  laughter  awoke  her  thoroughly. 

"Lor!"  she  cried,  "I  thought  I  was  at  Mrs.  Perkins'!" 

"It'll  be  midnight  soon,  and  then  you'll  sleep  till  four," 
said  I. 

"We'll  stop  awake  all  night  if  you  wish  us  to, "  said  one 
of  the  girls. 

"It's  better  than  nursing,  anyway,"  said  another.  "I'd 
rather  be  a  sailor  than  a  sick  nurse." 

"Or  sleep  with  a  baby,"  said  one  of  them. 

"Capt'n,"  cried  Alice,  "you're  looking  hollow;  why  don't 
yer  sleep?  I'll  take  any  oath  you  like  to  call  you,  if  you  want 
it."  I  shook  my  head  and  returned  on  deck. 

There  was  to  be  no  rest  for  me  that  night.  At  twelve  the 
girls  who  lay  in  the  forecastle  came  out,  and  the  others  who 
had  been  on  the  watch  went  to  their  bunks,  lying  down  in 
their  clothes.  Most  of  these  women  of  the  port  watch  I  sent 
into  the  cuddy  for  shelter  and  refreshments,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  others.  In  fact,  I  kept  but  two  on  deck  (besides  the  girls 


A    SECOND  SUICIDE.  321 

at  the  wheel),  and  those  I  contrived  to  shelter  by  seating 
them  in  the  companionway,  with  the  hood  up  and  one 
door  shut. 

Throughout  the  hours  I  stood  beside  the  wheel,  seldom 
leaving  it  lest  the  nerves  or  muscles  of  the  two  plucky  creat- 
ures who  steered  should  fail  them;  when,  of  course,  the  ship 
might  broach  to,  with  a  chance  of  being  wrecked  to  her  lower 
masts  or  foundering.  A  high  sea  chased  us,  but  it  was  a  fol- 
lowing sea,  and  we  swung  over  it  comfortably,  nothing  damp 
from  "the  eyes"  to  the  taffrail  but  the  wet  of  the  rain,  and  a 
twelve-knot  wake  pouring  off  astern,  lighting  up  the  darkness 
there  when  a  squall  blackened  the  moon.  And  all  the  while  I 
was  thanking  my  good  angel  the  wind  blew  as  it  did,  for  had 
it  headed  us  we  must  have  sagged  away  to  leeward,  under 
bladders  of  topsails,  and  flogging  jibs  and  staysails;  there 
would  have  been  no  virtue  in  reef  tackles  as  reef -points  that 
night  on  a  wind,  but  for  the  gale  chasing  us  the  morning  light 
would  have  disclosed  aloft  but  little  more  than  boltropes  and 
rags. 

In  those  long  hours,  while  watching  the  ship,  I'd  think  of 
the  Brigstock  party,  and  wonder  how  they  were  managing. 
There  was  wind  enough  to  blow  away  a  stronger  habitation 
than  a  tent.  As  to  their  notion  of  my  chances — if  ever  they 
gave  us  a  thought — they  were  sailors,  and  would  know  there 
was  nothing  in  such  a  blow  as  this  to  hurt  a  running  ship, 
under  such  canvas  as  our  vessel  carried  when  they  left  her. 

At  daybreak  the  wind  slackened.  While  the  dawn  was 
brightening  astern  I  saw  land  on  the  starboard  bow,  and  rushed 
below  for  the  chart  and  telescope.  I  had  a  clear  conception 
of  the  ship's  place,  and  was  astonished  and  alarmed  on  looking 
at  the  chart  to  find  that  no  land  was  marked  where  this  was. 
As  we  steered  we  should  be  giving  the  island  a  wide  enough 
berth,  but  were  there  sunken  reefs  in  the  neighborhood?  I 
overhung  the  rail,  and  gazed  with  passionate  anxiety  ahead. 
The  seas  were  arching  everywhere  in  foam,  but  I  nowhere 
caught  any  appearance  of  the  boiling  of  water  upon  a  shoal. 
I  looked  at  the  island  through  the  glass,  and  saw  some  huts 
covered  with  reeds,  and  about  ten  or  fifteen  black  figures  run- 
ning along  the  shore.  The  land  was  covered  with  bushes  and 
cocoanut  trees,  and  the  windward  bit  of  coast  was  magnificent 
with  the  bursting  of  the  seas  upon  it;  the  white  water  leaped 
up  in  mountains  fifty  feet  high,  and  the  flash  of  the  sun  made 
a  huge  glorious  jewel  of  each  volcanic  discharge. 

The  land  slipped  by  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  and 
in  half  that  time  was  gone  behind  the  ridges;  but,  until  it  van- 

I 


322  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

ished,  my  heart  was  in  my  throat,  for  never  could  I  tell  but 
that,  in  the  next  instant,  there  would  be  the  thrilling  shock 
of  arrest. 

All  this  day  it  blew  a  fresh  breeze;  sparkling  green  hills  of 
water  chased  and  helped  us  along;  in  twenty-four  hours  we 
made  over  230  miles  of  westing.  In  the  afternoon  I  saw  the 
shadow  of  land  on  the  starboard  beam,  and  just  before  sun- 
down we  passed  an  island,  but  it  was  on  the  chart,  and  I  was 
prepared  for  it.  I  brought  the  ship's  glass  to  bear,  and  dis- 
tinguished a  few  huts,  a  row  of  canoes  on  the  white  foreshore, 
and  some  red  and  white  dogs,  with  one  native  only,  close 
beside  them,  waving. 

I  contrived,  in  snatches  during  the  day,  to  get  as  much  sleep 
as  would  enable  me  to  keep  the  deck  all  night.  Shortly  after 
sundown  the  wind  scanted,  the  sea  flattened,  the  vapor  floated 
off  the  face  of  the  heavens,  and  we  sailed  in  the  midst  of  as  fair 
a  night  as  had  ever  darkened  upon  us  since  we  entered  these 
seas.  Many  of  the  women, when  the  dusk  fell,  assembled  round 
the  main  hatch,  and  sang  songs  and  hymns.  I  walked  the  deck 
with  Kate  for  an  hour,  in  high  spirits  and  full  of  confidence. 
The  test  of  the  preceding  night  had  been  as  severe  as  any  our 
run  to  Sydney  was  likely  to  impose  upon  the  girls,  and  they 
had  responded  nobly. 

"You  said  it  might  be  done!"  I  exclaimed,  "but  I  never 
hoped  it  would  be  so  well  done." 

"Almost  ever  since  you  first  took  charge  of  this  ship  you 
have  been  drilling  them,"  said  Kate. 

"Yes,  there's  no  difficulty  in  learning  the  names  of  the 
ropes,  and  you  can  teach  monkeys  to  pull  and  haul.  But  the 
wheel !  Who'd  dream  that  girls,  in  two  months,  should  get 
the  art  of  the  helm  as  my  seven  have  it?  Look  how  finely 
that  woman  poses  herself  at  the  spokes,"  said  I,  and  we 
paused  to  look  at  the  figure  at  the  wheel. 

The  boyish  outline  was  clear  against  the  stars ;  in  the  sheen 
of  the  binnacle  lamp,  her  white  face  sank  and  rose  as  she  car- 
ried her  eyes  from  the  card  to  the  canvas.  I  watched  a  star  at 
the  crossjack  yardarm,  and  marked  the  pendulum  accuracy  of 
its  motions  there  as  it  swung  to  the  heave  of  the  ship,  and  its 
oscillation  was  true  to  a  hair. 

"No  old  seaman  could  keep  a  vessel  steadier  to  it,"  said  I; 
"who's  the  girl?" 

We  walked  aft;  it  was  Alice  Perry. 

"Hard  lines  that  the  chief  mate  of  a  ship  should  have  to 
steer  her,"  said  I,  laughing.  "I'm  afraid  I've  spoiled 
you." 


A    SECOND  SUICIDE.  323 

"Have  you?"  she  answered. 

"You'll  not  take  to  service  after  this?" 

"P'raps  not,"  she  replied. 

"You'll  go  dressed  as  a  man  through  life,  and  some  day 
command  a  ship,"  said  Kate. 

The  girl  strained  her  eyes  through  the  sheen,  but  made  no 
answer. 

Five  or  six  of  the  "crew"  were  walking  about  the  poop. 
One  of  them  suddenly  cried  out:  'What's  that?" 

I  said:  "What  do  you  see?" 

She  answered,  "Isn't  that  a  fire  there?" 

"It's  the  moon  rising,"  exclaimed  Kate. 

I  took  the  glass  from  the  skylight,  and  resolved  the  little 
globe-shaped  glow  upon  the  horizon  into  a  small  tongue  of 
flame,  and  after  I  had  looked  a  minute  I  distinguished  the 
black  dye  of  land.  It  was  in  the  north;  a  few  minutes  later  a 
dim  purple  blush  upon  the  horizon,  over  the  starboard  quar- 
ter, reddened  into  a  scar  of  moon.  The  fragment  of  orb, 
bloated,  distorted,  soared  off  the  rim  of  the  sea;  there  was,  at 
this  time,  a  great  hush  upon  the  ship;  the  women  on  the  main 
deck,  the  girls  aft,  all  of  us  were  silent,  watching  the  moon 
rise  or  the  distant  native  fire. 

It  was  then  there  sounded,  in  the  air  overhead,  such  another 
long-drawn  peculiar  moaning  noise  as  had  run  like  a  sound  of 
lamentation  through  the  Atlantic  hush  on  that  night  which 
preceded  the  suicide  of  Mary  Lonney,  and  my  being  sent 
adrift  by  Brigstock.  Doubtless  it  proceeded  from  some  invis- 
ible concourse  of  wild  fowl  winging  to  an  island;  it's  a  sign 
that  an  island  is  uninhabited  when  you  see  many  birds  hover- 
ing over  it;  a  number  of  uninhabited  islands  there  were  in 
those  days  hereabouts,  and  that  strange,  melancholy  cry  echo- 
ing through  the  silent  wind  over  our  trucks  was  undoubtedly 
the  piping  of  some  migratory  procession  of  seafowl  traveling 
by  night  for  a  reason  known  to  themselves. 

The  sound  was  miserably  dismal,  the  girls  on  the  poop, 
while  listening  to  it,  crowded  together  as  though  terrified;  and 
we  all  stared  upward,  but  nothing  was  to  be  seen  there  save  a 
beautiful  field  of  stars. 

"Hollo!"  cried  I.     "Where's  the  ship  going  to?" 

I  looked  round  and  sprang  to  the  wheel.  Alice  Perry  had 
fallen  on  her  knees  beside  it,  and  with  her  face  buried  in  her 
hands  was  sobbing  hysterically.  I  brought  the  ship  to  her 
course,  while  Kate  and  a  dozen  others  gathered  around  that 
strange,  kneeling,  weeping,  boyish  figure. 

"What  is  it,  dear?"  cried  one. 


324  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"What's  the  matter  with  her?"  exclaimed  another  in  a 
voice  of  awe. 

Kate  knelt  beside  the  sobbing  girl,  and  soothingly  addressed 
and  caressed  her;  but  she  held  her  face  obstinately  buried  and 
made  no  reply,  only  that  she  went  on  crying  as  though  her 
heart  was  breaking.  Then  all  at  once  springing  to  her  feet, 
she  exclaimed: 

"It's  nothing.  It's  all  right  now.  Let  me  be,  I  tell  yer! 
Leave  me  alone,  will  yer;  I  want  air!"  and  she  went  to  the 
rail  and  overhung  it. 

The  island  with  the  native  signal  fire  burning  was  doubtless 
Elizabeth  Island;  as  I  hoped  there  might  be  nothing  to  fear  in 
the  way  of  shoals  this  side  the  Four  Crowns,  which  were  a 
day's  sail  ahead,  I  altered  the  course  to  the  southward  by  a 
point  and  a  half,  then  called  to  Corbin  and  delivered  the  wheel 
up  to  her.  Kate  wanted  to  talk  to  me  about  the  singular 
wailing  noise  up  in  the  air;  it  was  time,  however,  for  the 
women  to  go  below,  and  I  asked  her  to  see  to  it,  and  report 
the  lights  safe,  and  tell  the  women  that  the  sound  was  made 
by  birds  and  not  by  ghosts,  as  I  guessed  many  of  them  imagined. 

"We  heard  the  same  noise  that  night  Mary  Lonney  cut  her 
throat,"  said  Kate  as  she  was  going.  "I  hope  it  '11  be  no  ill- 
omen  this  time." 

Perry  stood  alone  at  the  rail  right  aft  on  the  quarter;  the 
hearty  little  Deal  girl  grasped  the  wheel;  others  of  the  women 
crew  stood  about  the  deck  staring  at  the  signal  fire,  and  talk- 
ing about  the  sighing  noise  that  had  passed  through  the  air. 
It  was  the  influence  of  that  noise  still  acting  upon  my  nerves 
which  made  me  find  the  ship  a  solemn  visionary  picture  at  this 
time,  as  though  she  had  gathered  from  the  starshine  and  the 
dusk  and  the  distorted  corner  of  moon  astern,  some  quality  of 
mystery  which  carried  her  out  of  nature.  The  moon  made  no 
light  as  yet,  and  the  vessel  swam  in  shadow;  she  lifted  and  fell 
upon  the  long  black  heave  of  the  sea,  her  canvas  pulling 
steadily,  and  a  little  curl  of  dim  fire  shone  under  either  bow. 
The  point  of  light,  sparkling  upon  the  low,  inky  dye  of  land, 
made  a  romantic  wonder  and  even  horror  of  the  gloom  there, 
with  its  suggestion  of  the  savage  cannibal  spirit,  and  midnight 
rites  and  orgies  without  a  name. 

"What's  the  matter  with  you,  Alice?"  said  I,  going  to  her 
side  and  putting  my  hand  upon  her  shoulder. 

She  made  no  answer. 

"Did  that  strange  noise  overhead  just  now  scare  you?" 

"No,"  she  replied  quickly.  "Can't  people  wish  themselves 
dead  without  being  interfered  with?" 


A    SECOND   SUICIDE.  325 

"Why,  my  brave  little  woman,  what's  raised  that  ugly 
desire?" 

"I  wish  I'd  never  been  born,"  she  exclaimed. 

"So  do  most  of  us.  You're  hysterical.  Come  into  the 
cuddy,  and  I'll  give  you  a  little  brandy  and  water." 

"I  don't  want  anything.  Isn't  it  beastly  hard  upon  a  girl 
that  she  should  haw  feelin's,  and  not  know  words  to  speak 
'em  with?  If  Miss  Darnley  had  my  thoughts  she'd  make  her- 
self sweet  to  you  with  her  language.  She's  a  lady,  and  her 
father  was  a  parson.  Mine  was  a  baker,  which  died  of  drink 
and  left  me  to  the  parish.  Why  should  there  be  such  a  differ- 
ence? Them  stars  are  pretty  much  alike;  some  are  brighter 
than  t'others — that's  only  'cause  they're  nearer;  they  all  shine; 
but  it  aint  so  with  people.  Don't  I  know  'ow  you're  laughin' 
in  your  'art  at  me  when  you  hear  me  talk,  though  your  breedin' 
keeps  your  face  calm." 

"Don't  be  a  fool.  I  admire  and  respect  you,  so  does  Miss 
Darnley.  All  must  who  know  you.  Nature  has  made  you  a 
lady,  and  you're  grumbling  because  she  hasn't  acted  school- 
mistress as  well  as  mother." 

"Don't  talk  rubbidge.     A  baker's  brat  a  lady!" 

Her  eyes  glowed  in  the  starlight,  as  they  stared  at  me  in  her 
white  face,  under  the  shaggy  heap  of  hair  upon  her  brow.  She 
suddenly  softened  her  voice,  and  said,  "I'm  sorry  I  let  go  the 
wheel.  Yer  angry  with  me  for  that." 

"I  could  be  angry  with  you  for  nothing  but  temper  and1 
silliness.  To  listen  to  you,  who  have  the  heart  of  a  heroine, 
with  a  finer  spirit  than  ever  I've  met  with  in  your  own  sex — to 
listen  to  you,  of  them  all  on  board,  talking  twaddle!  Come 
below.  I'll  give  you  a  small  glass  of  brandy.  Then  turn 
in." 

She  eyed  me  steadfastly  while  I  spoke. 

"I  suppose,"  said  she,  'if  ever  we  gets  to  Australia  you'll 
stop  there  a  little,  and  then  go  'ome?" 

"Why,  yes,  I  hope  to  go  home." 

"Shall  you  marry  Miss  Darnley  there,  or  take  her  'ome 
single?" 

"Never  you  mind,"  said  I,  laughing  and  looking  round 
toward  the  wheel,  for  Corbin  was  not  out  of  earshot,  though 
she  was,  perhaps,  too  occupied  by  her  duty  to  hear  us. 

"  'Ow  long  have  you  known  her  before  you  met  her  here?" 

"No  chief  mate  is  permitted  to  cross-examine  his  captain  in 
this  fashion,"  said  I;  then  fearing  if  I  made  her  sulky  she'd 
breed  trouble  among  the  others,  I  said,  "I'm  grateful  to  you, 
and  as  fond  as  I  ought  to  be.  They  shall  make  a,  lady  of  you 


326  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

in  Sydney.  What  should  I  have  done  without  you?"  and  I 
took  her  hand. 

She  snatched  it  from  me  with  a  shudder,  buried  her  face, 
then  went  forward. 

Soon  after  she  was  gone  I  heard  a  faint  distant  hallooing  out 
upon  the  sea;  it  sounded  as  though  it  came  from  midway  the 
ship  and  the  low  black  shadow  of  island  with  the  spaikle  upon 
it ;  it  was  nearer  however  than  that,  as  I  had  afterward  reason 
to  suppose. 

I  pointed  the  glass  at  the  place  where  the  hallooing  seemed 
to  sound,  imagining  that  some  small  colonial  trader  was  there, 
but  seeing  nothing  I  concluded  the  shouts  came  from  a  canoe. 
The  idea  of  a  swarm  of  savages  drawing  within  arrow  shot — 
fifty  or  a  hundred  of  them  for  all  I  could  tell,  so  thick  was  the 
dusk  upon  the  face  of  the  water,  would  have  frightened  me 
horribly  but  for  our  rate  of  going;  I  looked  over  the  side  and 
calculated  in  the  passage  of  the  stars  of  seafire  a  full  six,  and  I 
guessed  that  at  that,  if  ever  a  chase  was  entered  on  we'd  soon 
be  alone  again. 

Three  times  I  heard  that  distant  faint  hallooing.  Corbin 
asked  what  it  was;  none  of  the  others  about  the  decks  seemed 
to  heed  it. 

Kate  arrived,  and  said  all  was  right  in  the  'tween  decks. 

"Have  you  looked  into  the  forecastle?" 

"No,"  she  answered. 

"Alice  Perry's  been  talking  very  queerly;  she's  gone  for- 
ward with  her  eyes  on  fire  and  a  hand  of  ice.  She  is  ill,  or 
going  to  be.  Step  forward,  will  you,  dear,  and  tell  me  how 
she  does?  She  is  a  valuable  hand,  worth  cherishing." 

She  went  away  without  a  word.  Her  silence  was  like  a 
sulky  look. 

I  stepped  to  the  rail,  and  stared  at  the  water  in  the  direction 
whence  the  hallooing  had  come.  In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
Kate  returned.  She  told  me  that  Alice  Perry  was  lying  down, 
and  seemed  well. 

"She  asked  me,"  said  she,  "to  beg  you  to  forgive  her  for 
speaking  rudely." 

"Chaw!  a  poor  servant  girl !"  said  I. 

We  bade  each  other  good-night,  and  she  went  to  her 
quarters. 

The  moon  was  now  glowing  with  some  power;  the  island 
had  veered  on  to  our  quarter,  and  was  just  under  the  moon, 
like  a  little  dusky  cloud,  with  a  faint  sheet  of  greenish  radi- 
ance trembling  under  it.  I  noticed  a  tiny  black  spot  in  the 
midst  of  that  dim  luster,  and  on  pointing  my  telescope  saw  it 


A    SECOND   SUICIDE.  327 

was  a  canoe;  it  seemed  motionless  while  I  watched,  and  pres- 
ently the  passage  of  our  ship  swept  it  into  the  shadow  and  I 
lost  it. 

I  replaced  Corbin  at  the  wheel  by  Barker,  and  told  two  of 
the  women  to  keep  a  bright  lookout,  while  I  went  on  to  the 
forecastle  to  take  a  view  of  the  sea  ahead.  Nothing  was  to  be 
seen  from  either  bow.  I  let  my  naked  sight  sink  into  the 
obscurity,  then  swept  with  the  telescope  (over  and  over  again 
at  night  at  sea  the  telescope  has  found  me  objects  I  had  missed 
with  the  binocular  glass).  All  was  wide  sea,  darkling  to  the 
stars. 

The  scuttle,  as  the  forecastle  hatch  is  called,  lay  open;  I 
had  no  thought  of  prying  into  the  privacy  of  the  girls  down 
there,  but,  imagining  that  the  lamp  was  making  too  strong  a 
light,  I  stopped  and  peered  into  the  hatch,  and  saw  Alice 
Perry  seated  on  the  deck  writing  on  the  flyleaf  of  a  book, 
with  the  forecastle  lamp  beside  her.  This  was  highly  improper 
and  dangerous;  but  as  I  did  not  wish  to  provoke  her  tongue 
after  what  had  already  passed,  I  went  aft  quickly  and  told  one  of 
the  girls  to  run  forward  and  hook  the  lamp  to  its  lanyard  again. 

"If  Perry  resists,"  said  I,  "come  to  me." 

When  the  girl  returned,  she  told  me  she  found  the  lamp 
hanging  under  the  beam  as  usual,  and  Perry  getting  into  her 
bunk. 

"All  right,"  said  I,  and  went  aft,  musing  on  the  picture  of 
Perry  seated  on  the  deck,  and  wondering  what  on  earth  she 
had  written.  It  was  news,  indeed,  to  discover  that  the  girl 
could  even  read.  There  was  a  grating  over  the  tiller,  and  I 
got  upon  it  to  sit  and  smoke  and  doze.  I  was  close  to  the 
wheel,  and  needed  but  to  stretch  my  neck  to  see  the  compass 
card.  I  was  awakened  from  a  short  nap  by  Marshall  coming 
to  relieve  the  helm.  I  talked  with  her  a  while,  took  a  turn, 
smiled  at  the  sight  of  three  of  my  crew  sound  asleep  on  the 
skylight,  and  two  of  them  nodding  with  their  backs  against 
the  companion,  then -returned  to  the  grating  and  smoked  and 
meditated,  with  an  occasional  spell  of  forty  winks  between 
whiles  as  before.  • 

I  had  borrowed  a  watch  from  one  of  the  women,  and  look- 
ing at  it  by  and  by  found  it  was  midnight.  I  called  out  at  the 
top  of  my  voice  that  it  was  eight  bells;  the  sleepers  awoke, 
half  the  watch  came  out  of  the  cuddy,  and  the  whole  wearied 
lot  of  them  went  forward.  After  a  bit  three  or  four  girls  of 
the  other  watch  came  on  to  the  poop.  One  of  them  was  Flo' 
Lewis,  who,  while  approaching  the  wheel,  stooped  and  peered, 
and  exclaimed: 


328  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"Isn't  Perry  here?" 

"No,"  I  answered,  going  to  her.  "Marshall's  at  the 
wheel." 

"Then  where's  Perry,  captain?"  said  Lewis. 

"Isn't  she  in  the  forecastle?" 

"No." 

I  walked  to  the  break  of  the  poop  and  called  for  Alice 
Perry.  The  name  was  caught  up,  and  shrilly  repeated  by 
some  girls  on  the  main  deck.  I  said  to  someone  who  stood 
near: 

"Run  below  and  tell  Miss  Darnley  that  Perry's  missing, 
and  ask  her  to  search  the  'tween  decks." 

I  then  went  forward  slowly,  looking  to  right  and  left  of  me, 
for  the  girl  had  a  fierce  spirit,  and  I  couldn't  guess  what  hellish 
intention  might  be  covered  by  this  hiding  of  herself.  I  peered 
warily  and  eagerly  into  the  darkness  about  the  foremast  and 
galley  till  I  came  to  the  forecastle,  where  I  halted  and  asked 
permission  to  enter.  A  number  of  voices  called  to  me  to 
come  in. 

Thirteen  or  fourteen  young  women,  looking  for  all  the  world 
like  stout,  well-grown  boys  in  their  clothes,  were  here,  a  few 
sitting  in  their  bunks,  most  of  them  standing.  They  were 
talking  about  Alice  Perry. 

"What's  become  of  the  girl?"  said  I.  "Are  you  sure  she's 
not  in  her  bed  hidden  under  a  blanket?" 

"That's  where  she  sleeps,"  said  one  of  the  women,  pointing 
to  a  bunk  in  the  fore  part  of  the  interior.  "I  take  turn  and 
turn  with  her  in  that  shelf.  Her  coat's  there." 

"Her  coat!"  I  walked  to  the  bunk  and  picked  up  the  gar- 
ment, and  saw  a  piece  of  paper  pinned  to  the  sleeve.  I 
brought  it  to  the  light,  and  read,  faintly  penciled  in  an  extra- 
ordinary, unformed  handwriting,  these  words: 

I  kil  myself  for  ef  I  dont  I  shall  kil  K.  D.  let  C.M.  gess  what  for  I 
keeps  my  own  Secrait  and  carries  my  poor  soul  before  Gord  pure. 

A.  P. 

"She's  committed  suicide!"  I  said. 

"There  now!"  shrieked  a  girl.  "I  told  yer  that  noise 
meant  the  death  of  one  of  us." 

I  walked  out  and  the  women  followed  me,  silent  with  hor- 
ror. I  had  scarcely  gained  the  poop  when  Kate  joined  me. 

"Alice  Perry  is  not  in  our  quarters,"  she  said. 

I  took  her  to  the  binnacle  and  gave  her  the  paper  to  read 
by  the  lamplight  there,  and  left  her  while  I  thoroughly 
searched  the  ship. 


/    NEWSPAPER   CUTTING.  329 

I  called  some  of  the  girls  to  me,  and  we  explored  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  cuddy  and  steerage;  I  caused  the  'tween 
decks  to  be  searched  afresh.  I  overhauled  the  forecastle 
again,  looked  into  the  galley,  ran  aloft,  fancying  she  might  be 
hiding  in  the  tops  or  crosstrees.  Then,  knowing  quite  surely 
she  was  not  in  the  ship,  I  realized  what  had  happened,  and 
how;  she  had  crept  through  the  hatch  out  of  the  forecastle, 
and  so  got  into  the  head  of  the  ship,  and  dropped  silently 
overboard ! 

Could  nothing  be  done?  It  might  have  happened  an  hour 
before  our  discovery  of  it !  The  ship's  speed  was  six  knots; 
the  women  knew  nothing  about  lowering  and  handling  a  boat. 
Had  she  taken  the  plunge  but  five  minutes  before  we  missed 
her,  still  there  would  have  been  no  more  chance  of  rescuing 
her,  though  she  floated  alive  within  the  ship's  own  length, 
than  of  putting  life  into  her  body  had  we  picked  her  up  dead. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

A    NEWSPAPER    CUTTING,    AND    THE    STORY    PROCEEDS. 

"THE  emigrant  ship  Earl  of  Leicester  arrived  at  this  port 
early  yesterday  morning.  She  left  the  Thames  with  ninety 
unmarried  female  emigrants  at  the  close  of  March  last.  When 
she  had  reached  a  few  degrees  south  of  the  equator  she  was 
struck  by  lightning,  which  killed  the  surgeon  (Rolt),  blinded 
the  captain  (Halcrow),  and  in  some  manner  so  injured  the 
chief  officer,  Mr.  Jonathan  Billing,  as  to  affect  his  brain,  and 
shortly  after  the  disaster  the  unfortunate  gentleman  threw 
himself  overboard  and  perished. 

"Captain  Halcrow  was,  at  his  own  request,  transferred  to  a 
homeward-bound  ship.  Among  those  who  went  in  the  boat 
with  him  were  Mr.  Jeremy  Latto,  the  second  mate,  and  James 
Cox,  the  boatswain.  A  heavy  squall  separated  the  vessels; 
dark,  tempestuous  weather  followed,  and  the  female  emigrants 
found  themselves  adrift,  in  company  with  a  diminished  crew 
of  sailors  and  without  a  navigator! 

"The  ship  was  in  this  helpless  state  for  ten  days,  in  which 
time  the  crew,  having  plenty  of  leisure  for  thought,  plotted 
with  the  ship's  carpenter,  Brigstock,  to  settle  an  island  in  the 
South  Pacific.  They  chose  twelve  (afterward  thirteen) 
women  from  among  the  emigrants.  The  girls,  it  is  said,  read- 
ily consented  to  become  their  wives.  Many  were  jealous 


33°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

because  they  were  not  chosen.  Of  such  is  the  nature  of  the 
female  domestic. 

"The  most  extraordinary  part  remains.  Since  the  crew 
could  not  manage  to  reach  the  Pacific  without  a  navigator, 
they  determined  to  steal  one.  A  bark  named  the  Caroline,  of 
four  hundred  tons,  hove  in  sight.  All  the  female  emigrants 
were  ordered  below,  the  hatches  closed,  and  a  signal  of  dis- 
tress hoisted.  The  bark  sent  her  mate,  Mr.  Charles  Morgan, 
to  see  what  was  wrong;  he  was  conducted  into  the  cabin, 
locked  up,  and  the  crew  then  sailed  away  with  him.  Finding 
himself  helpless  in  the  sailors'  hands,  and  having  already 
undergone  an  even  wilder  and  more  terrible  experience,  so 
that  he  felt  careless  as  to  what  new  adventure  he  embarked 
on  providing  it  was  honest,  Mr.  Morgan  consented  to  navi- 
gate the  ship  to  an  island. 

"Soon  after  he  took  command,  he  trained  a  number  of  the 
women  as  sailors.  He  foresaw  that  when  the  crew  left  the 
vessel  she  would  require  fresh  hands ;  he  was  determined  to 
take  no  risks  of  South  Sea  rowdyism  and  ruffianism  into  his 
forecastle,  with  a  number  of  women  in  the  ship,  a  valuable,  or 
at  least  a  useful  cargo  in  the  hold,  and  himself  the  only  officer 
on  board.  They  rounded  the  Horn  in  June,  and  fell  in  with 
an  island  that  suited  them  in  the  middle  of  July.  Brigstock 
and  his  party  went  ashore,  carrying  with  them  about  fifty  tons 
of  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  cargo.  The  situation  of  the  place 
will  not  be  got  from  Mr.  Morgan;  an  oath  of  secrecy  was 
imposed  upon  him  by  Brigstock  and  the  crew  in  the  presence 
of  the  women,  and  though  it  is  true  that 

Vows  made  in  pain,  ease  will  recant 
As  violent  and  void  ; 

yet  Mr.  Morgan  shows  a  proper  sense  of  honor  and  of  the 
value  of  an  oath  by  declining  to  supply  any  clew  to  the  where- 
abouts of  Brigstock's  settlement.  The  women  have  been 
questioned,  but  their  descriptions  are  imperfect  and  convey, 
no  ideas  upon  which  a  theory  of  the  island's  situation  can  be 
based.  They  speak  of  it  as  hilly  and  well-wooded;  so  are 
most  of  the  islands.  It  is  more  than  probable,  however,  that 
his  Excellency  will  send  a  vessel  to  search  for  the  party. 

"The  ship's  agents  are  Messrs.  Norton  &  Jackson,  and  the 
consignee  of  the  cargo  is  the  Government  Emigration  Agent. 
It  is  not  conceivable  that  these  gentlemen  will  accept  the 
crew's  plea,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Morgan,  and  submit  to  be 
defrauded  on  the  grounds,  first,  that  money  in  wages  is  due  to 


A    NEWSPAPER   CUTTING.  331 

the  crew,  next  that  they  have  a  claim  as  salvors  of  property, 
third,  as  salvors  of  life. 

"To  proceed:  after  the  Brigstock  party  had  landed,  Mr. 
Morgan  continued  the  voyage  to  this  port,  himself  being  the 
only  man  in  the  ship;  his  crew  consisted  of  thirty  girls,  who, 
that  they  might  not  be  inconvenienced  by  their  petticoats  in 
running  about,  were  dressed  in  male  attire,  of  which  a  large 
quantity  forms  a  portion  of  the  vessel's  lading.  Our  readers 
will  probably  receive  our  assurance  with  incredulity;  it  is 
nevertheless  the  fact  that  Mr.  Morgan  navigated  the  vessel 
through  several  thousand  miles  of  ocean  with  the  assistance  of 
his  crew  of  women  only !  The  thing  is  unprecedented.  We 
are  acquainted  with  but  one  marine  incident  which  at  all  cor- 
responds with  it;  we  refer  to  the  case  of  the  female  convict 
ship  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Colonel  Elwood  in  her  narrative  of 
a  journey  to  India  in  1828.  'A  number  of  female  convicts,' 
she  says,  'having  seized  the  vessel  they  were  in,  the  deter- 
mined Amazon,  their  leader,  with  her  own  hands  cut  off  the 
head  of  the  captain,  and  then,  forcing  the  crew  to  navigate  the 
vessel,  carried  it  in  triumph  into  a  South  American  port, 
where  the  heroine  is  now  established  as  the  mistress  of  a  hotel. ' 
This  is  terrific;  it  is  not  even  wanting  in  the  sublime,  but  it  is 
deficient  in  the  heroic.  The  female  convicts,  as  we  have  seen, 
compelled  the  men  to  work  the  ship.  In  Mr.  Morgan's  case, 
the  girls  themselves  did  all  the  pulling  and  hauling,  and  in 
moderate  weather  the  furling,  for  it  is  stated  that  he  had 
taught  some  of  them  to  stow  the  mizzen,  topgallant  sail,  and 
royal,  while  it  is  certain  that  seven  of  them  proved  as  expert 
at  the  helm  as  any  master  could  wish  his  sailors  to  be. 

"The  women,  on  their  arrival,  were  sent  by  the  agent  to  the 
Immigration  Depot,  where  they  have  been  visited  by  crowds 
of  people.  Many  of  them  have  already  obtained  engagements. 
Mr.  Morgan  has  not  a  single  case  of  sickness  to  report  during 
the  voyage.  Strangely  enough  there  were  two  suicides,  each 
of  them  rendered  remarkable  by  a  melancholy  prophetic  wail- 
ing in  the  air,  heard  by  all  hands  on  the  nights  preceding  the 
tragic  occurrences.  One  of  the  girls,  Mary  Lonney,  cut  her 
throat  with  a  table  knife,  while  she  lay  on  the  sleeping  shelf 
with  her  companions;  it  is  universally  allowed  by  the  women 
that  she  was  insane.  The  other,  Alice  Perry,  drowned  her- 
self on  the  second  night  following  the  ship's  departure  from 
the  island,  by  silently  lowering  herself  over  the  bows  and 
dropping  into  the  sea. 

"The  scene  of  leave-taking  between  Mr.  Morgan  and  the 
women  whom  he  has  served  so  nobly  was  exceedingly  inter- 


332  THE   EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

esting  and  moving.  They  crowded  about  him,  they  kissed 
his  hands,  many  saluted  his  cheeks;  they  blessed  him  again 
and  again,  coming  back  a  dozen  times  to  bless  him  once  more 
and  press  his  hand.  The  ship  will  immediately  begin  to  dis- 
charge, and  then  load  wool  for  London.  It  is  almost  certain 
that  the  command  of  her  will  be  given  to  Mr.  Charles  Morgan, 
who  holds  a  certificate  as  a  master-mariner." 

So  ran  the  account  of  the  ship's  arrival  and  voyage  to  Syd- 
ney from  Bull's  Island,  as  printed  in  the  Sydney  Morning 
Herald  of  that  date. 

It  was  the  morning  following  our  arrival  in  Sydney  Bay. 
All  the  women  had  gone  ashore  on  the  preceding  afternoon — 
Kate  among  them.  I  had  asked  her  what  she  meant  to  do. 

"Mean  to  do!"  she  replied  with  a  look  of  wonder.  "I 
shall  go  with  the  rest  to  the  Immigration  Depot,  and  stop 
there  till  somebody  hires  me  as  a  governess." 

"Very  well,"  said  I;  "but  you'll  let  me  have  your  address 
should  you  be  quickly  engaged?" 

"Where  shall  I  send  it?" 

"Address  me  to  the  care  of  Messrs.  Norton  &  Jackson." 

After  a  few  more  sentences  to  the  above  effect,  we  had 
parted,  she  having  stood  aloof  while  all  the  rest  were  crowd- 
ing about  me;  then,  when  they  were  gone,  coming  to  me. 

We  had  entered  the  Heads  on  Monday,  at  dawn  of  day, 
August  28,  1851;  this  was  Tuesday,  the  29th,  a  lovely  clear 
morning.  A  hundred  pleasure  boats  whitened  the  bright  blue 
waters  of  the  magnificent  harbor;  the  coves  were  filled  with 
shipping;  crowds  of  boats  hovered  about  us,  their  occupants 
staring  with  devouring  eyes  at  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  Men  and 
women  were  galloping  on  horseback  along  the  crescent-shaped 
slips  of  land.  The  gleam  of  white  houses  amid  the  thick  foli- 
age, the  sweeping  bays  wooded  to  the  very  sip  of  the  surf,  the 
carriages  appearing  and  disappearing  among  the  trees,  the 
crowds  of  people,  many-colored  with  military  uniforms,  and 
the  gay  apparel  of  women,  walking  to  and  fro  upon  a  prome- 
nade close  to  the  town,  formed  a  picture  infinitely  refreshing, 
as  you  will  suppose,  to  my  eyes,  worn  dim  with  the  ceaseless 
lookout  I  had  been  forced  to  keep,  and  with  the  hundred  days 
of  ocean  I  had  lived  through. 

I  was  talking  to  Mr.  Jackson,  one  of  the  ship's  agents,  on 
the  poop,  recounting  all  the  particulars  of  my  voyage,  not 
omitting  my  experience  on  board  the  Hebe,  and  was  explaining 
why  it  was  that  many  leaves  of  the  log  book  were  torn  out,  and 
no  entries  made  since  the  Brigstock  lot  had  left  the  ship,  when 


A   NEWSPAPER    CUTTING.  333 

a  short  man  in  a  white  hat  and  a  yellow  coat,  and  a  head 
round  as  a  cannon-ball,  very  blue  where  the  cheek  was  shaved, 
and  the  eyes  small,  black,  and  sharp,  came  over  the  side,  and 
stepped  on  to  the  poop.  He  saluted  me  with  a  low  theatrical 
bow,  and  then  nodded  to  Mr.  Jackson  as  though  knowing  him. 

''I  have  the  honor,  I  believe,"  said  he,  "of  addressing 
Captain  Charles  Morgan?" 

I  answered  that  was  so. 

"May  I  be  permitted,  sir,  to  shake  the  hand  of  a  living 
'ero?" 

He  advanced  his  arm,  and  we  shook  hands. 

"My  name,  sir,  is  Levy."  (This  was  not  his  name,  but  it 
will  serve).  "I'm  manager  of  the  Theater  Royal.  My  object 
in  intruding's  this:  I've  'ad  an  interview  with  the  Immigration 
Agent,  and  he's  willing  the  'eroic  young  parties  as  formed 
your  crew — wonderful  thing,  sir,  most  wonderful,  indeed!"  he 
ejaculated,  interrupting  himself  to  gaze  along  the  deck,  and 
then  up  aloft,  "shall  appear,  in  the  male  clothes  which  they 
wore  during  the  voyage,  upon  the  stage  of  my  theater,  at  a 
performance  to  be  given  for  their  benefit." 

"What  do  the  girls  say?"  said  Mr.  Jackson. 

"All,  with  the  exception  of  five,  are  at  the  depot.  They  are 
proud  and  'appy  to  oblige.  The  other  five  are  easily  assembled 
— making  twenty-nine  in  all.  Sorry  to  hear  you  lost  the  favor- 
ite. If  Alice  Perry  was  what  they  tell  me,  she  should  have 
'ad  ten  pound  a  week.  Captain,  I'm  'ere  to  ask  you  to  do  me 
the  honner,  to  do  the  town  of  Sydney  the  honner,  to  appear 
upon  my  stage  in  company  with  your  crew.  What  a  picture 
it  '11  make,  sir!"  he  cried,  addressing  Mr.  Jackson,  with  a  grin 
of  triumphant  enjoyment  of  the  vision  of  it. 

"Not  for  all  the  value  of  the  wool  in  this  colony,"  said  I. 

"How,  sir?"  he  cried,  with  a  tragic  start. 

I  gave  him  "No"  again  very  warmly. 

"But,"  he  exclaimed,  with  a  look  of  decision,  "you'll  not 
object  to  occupying  a  box?" 

"How  do  you  know?"  said  I. 

However,  on  his  representing  that  the  whole  receipts  of  the 
performance,  without  deduction  of  any  sort,  would  be  handed 
over  to  the  women,  and  that  my  absence  must  lessen  the 
attraction  of  the  exhibition,  I  consented  to  be  present. 

Mr.  Levy  then  shook  hands  with  me  and  went  on  shore, 
after  saying  I  should  hear  from  him  when  he  had  fixed  a  night. 

Next  morning,  having  some  leisure,  I  walked  to  the  Immi- 
gration Depot,  a  large,  walled  barrack,  where  single  females, 
on  the  arrival  of  an  emigrant  ship,  were  lodged,  boarded,  and 


334  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

looked  after;  I  hoped  to  see  Kate,  having  something  on  my 
mind  to  communicate,  but  I  arrived  too  late;  twenty  minutes 
earlier  a  lady  had  called  in  a  carriage  to  drive  her  to  Darling- 
hurst,  to  settle,  as  I  understood,  the  terms  of  an  engagement. 

This  same  day  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Jackson  that  the 
command  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  was  mine,  and  that  I  was  to 
carry  her  home  with  a  cargo  of  wool,  tallow,  horns,  and  other 
Australian  produce.  I  believe  but  for  this  offer  I  should 
have  been  tempted  to  try  my  luck  at  the  gold  diggings.  In  the 
preceding  May  gold  had  been  discovered  in  the  Bathhurst  dis- 
trict, and  the  colony,  at  this  time,  was  crazy  over  the  find. 
Trade  was  almost  paralyzed  by  the  desertion  of  labor.  A  blue 
and  red  serge  shirt,  a  cabbage-tree  hat,  a  leather  belt,  gold 
digging  gloves,  a  pair  of  mining  boots,  and  a  couple  of  blank- 
ets, topped  with  a  thirty  shilling  license  for  the  privilege  to 
dig,  sufficed  to  equip  a  man  for  the  realization  of  wealth 
beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice.  Nothing  sobered  me  but  the 
agent's  offer.  It  came  not  one  hour  too  soon.  Mr.  Jackson 
had  advanced  some  money  to  me,  and  I  should  have  been  off 
next  day  for  Wellington,  or  Ballarat,  or  Geelong,  but  for  the 
Earl  of  Leicester. 

But  having  accepted  the  post,  I  became  straightway  a  very 
busy  man.  Then  people  of  Sydney  would  have  made  much 
of  me.  I  received  dozens  of  invitations  to  dinner ;  a  score  of 
houses  were  opened  tome;  the  proprietor  of  Petty's  Hotel 
begged  me  to  use  his  house,  free  of  all  charge,  while  I  was  in 
Sydney;  but  I  dined  nowhere  save  at  Mr.  Jackson's  and  one 
or  two  other  houses;  I  lived  on  board  the  ship,  and  wanted  no 
better  home. 

Three  days  after  I  had  called  upon  Kate  at  the  Immigration 
Depot,  I  received  a  letter  from  her;  she  had  accepted  a  situa- 
tion as  governess  to  the  children  of  a  family  living  at  Darling- 
hurst;  she  did  not  yet  know  whether  she  would  like  the  place. 
They  gave  her  twenty-five  pounds  a  year,  which  did  not  seem 
more  than  the  pay  of  such  posts  in  England.  She  congratu- 
lated me  upon  having  obtained  command,  asked  me  to  let  her 
know  the  day  on  which  the  ship  sailed,  and  hoped  I  would 
call  and  say  good-by  before  I  left. 

I  read  the  letter  with  a  smile.  In  every  word  of  it  was  the 
same  spirit  which  had  confined  her  to  the  dark,  melancholy 
'tween  decks  when  the  bright,  cheerful  cuddy  was  at  her  ser- 
vice. 

I  was  busy  with  the  affairs  of  the  ship  one  morning,  within 
a  week  of  our  arrival,  when  Mr.  Norton,  one  of  the  agents, 
came  on  board,  and  told  me  that  his  Excellency,  Sir  Charles 


A   NEWSPAPER   CUTTING.  335 

Augustus  Fitzroy,  Governor  of  New  South  Wales,  would  be 
glad  to  see  me  if  I  called  upon  him  that  afternoon. 

Accompanied  by  Mr.  Norton,  I  attended  at  Government 
House,  a  fine  building  with  great  staring  windows.  My 
reception  was  very  flattering  and  gratifying.  Sir  Charles  was 
one  of  the  finest,  most  accomplished  gentlemen  I  ever  met,  or 
my  slender  social  experience  could  figure.  He  introduced 
me  to  Lady  Mary  Fitzroy,  and  I  passed  an  hour  with  them, 
going  over  the  ground  which  you  have  traversed  in  this 
book. 

I  perceived  that  his  Excellency  was  extremely  anxious  to 
learn  the  situation  of  Brigstock's  island,  but  his  courtesy  and 
high  sense  of  honor  would  not  suffer  him  to  question  me.  He 
was  much  amused  by  my  representation  of  Brigstock's  scheme, 
and  said  that  it  would  be  a  bad  lookout  for  the  hopes  of  that 
patriarch  and  father  if  news  of  the  gold  find  reached  the  settle- 
ment; "for,  in  that  case,  they'll  not  long  remain  there,"  said  he. 

I  asked  if  steps  would  be  taken  to  discover  the  island,  and 
bring  the  settlers  to  Sydney?  He  said  yes.  He  shook  me 
cordially  by  the  hand,  and  made  me  many  handsome  compli- 
ments when  I  took  my  leave. 

I  had  no  idea,  however,  until  some  days  afterward,  that  this 
agreeable  reception  was  no  more  than  the  engaging  preface  to 
an  honor,  and  to  an  expression  of  public  feeling,  the  time,  the 
manner,  the  circumstance  of  which  I  cannot  recall  without 
emotion.  It  happened  too  long  ago  to  bring  modesty  into 
question  in  the  narrative  of  it. 

I  went  to  dine  with  Mr.  Jackson  at  his  house  in  Lyon's  Ter- 
race; the  day  was  Tuesday.  Before  we  repaired  to  the  dining 
room,  Mr.  Jackson  said: 

"You  are  to  receive  a  fine  compliment,  Captain  Morgan;  I 
hope  you  won't  decline  it." 

"What  is  it,  sir?" 

"The  inhabitants  of  Sydney  have  subscribed  a  purse  for  you, 
and  his  Excellency  has  expressed  his  willingness  to  present  it 
publicly,  at  the  Theater  Royal." 

"He  is  very  kind,  and  so  are  the  inhabitants  of  Sydney," 
said  I,  feeling  uncomfortably  nervous  and  pale  on  a  sudden. 
"Of  course,  if  it  is  the  general  wish — indeed  the  part  Sir 
Charles  takes  lays  a  command  upon  me — what  shall  I  be 
expected  to  do?" 

"Smile,  and  pocket  the  money." 

"No  speech?" 

"Oh,  a  few  manly  sentences." 

My  throat  felt  dry. 


336  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"I'd  rather  sail  the  Earl  of  Leicester  round  the  world  with 
six  women  for  a  crew,  than  face  it,"  said  I. 

"Tut,  tut!  Besides,  it  will  be  a  fine  advertisement  for  the 
ship,  both  here  and  at  home." 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders.  But  the  long  and  short  of  it  was, 
Mr.  Jackson  meant  that  I  should  accept,  and  seeing  that  he 
represented  the  owners  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  expostulation  and  submission. 

While  lunching  at  Petty's  Hotel  next  day,  I  heard  that 
Mr.  Levy,  of  the  Theater  Royal,  was  at  the  bottom  of  this 
theatrical  presentation.  The  Mayor  of  Sydney  headed  the 
subscription  list,  and  Mr.  Levy  had  postponed  the  exhibition 
of  my  sailor  crew  till  my  presence  was  to  be  secured  on  the 
stage.  I  suppose  the  rogue  guessed  I  was  bound  to  consent 
to  any  programme  the  governor  approved  and  was  willing  to 
figure  in.  The  fact  is,  as  it  afterward  turned  out,  Levy  had 
offered  engagements  to  several  of  my  crew  of  women  to  act  in 
a  nautical  drama  he  and  another  had  planned,  and  our  benefit 
was  intended  as  his  advertisement. 

"You  can't  trust  'em,"  the  master  of  a  ship  said  to  me  in 
the  course  of  a  chat  about  this  benefit  and  Levy's  motives. 
"There's  a  verse  in  the  New  Testament  that  fits  all  that  sort 
of  philanthropists";  and  he  quoted  in  a  deep  sea  voice,  "This 
he  said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor,  but  because  he  was  a  thief."" 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

THE  benefit  and  presentation  were  fixed  by  his  Excellency 
to  take  place  on  a  Monday  evening,  that  is  about  ten  or  twelve 
days  after  the  arrival  of  the  ship  at  Sydney.  In  all  this  time, 
owing  to  my  having  had  scarcely  an  hour  to  myself,  I  had  seen 
nothing  of  Kate  Darnley;  a  few  letters  had  passed  between  us, 
and  I  was  aware  that  she  was  fairly  comfortable,  though  I 
found  no  note  of  good  spirits  in  what  she  wrote.  When  I  was 
informed  that  Monday  was  the  night  of  the  presentation,  I 
asked  her,  in  a  letter,  to  attend  the  theater  with  me.  She 
wrote  yes,  requested  me  to  fetch  her,  and  inclosed  an  invita- 
tion to  dinner  from  Mrs.  Carey,  in  whose  family  she  was 
governess. 

On  Monday  afternoon  I  drove  to  Mrs.  Carey's  villa  in  Dar- 
linghurst.  Kate  received  me  alone  in  the  drawing  room.  She 
was  dressed  in  white,  ready  for  the  play;  not  a  shilling's  worth 


CONCLUSION.  337 

of  jewelry  was  on  her,  save  a  plain  ring  and  a  little  brooch 
which  had  been  her  mother's.  She  wore  some  lovely  red 
flower  of  those  lands  in  her  rich  black  hair;  her  eyes  were  soft 
and  wistful ;  I  missed  the  clear  light  that  glowed  in  them  at 
sea.  She  looked  sweet  and  well;  a  fine  full  figure  of  a  girl, 
and  a  lady. 

"This,"  said  I,  as  I  gazed  round  the  charmingly  furnished 
apartment,  "is  almost  as  brilliant  and  breezy  as  the  cuddy  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester.  Are  you  kindly  treated?" 

"Very  kindly." 

"Are  you  happy?" 

"I  am  now,"  she  answered. 

I  misunderstood  her,  and  said,  You  must  give  yourself 
time  to  find  people  out." 

"I  don't  mean  that.  I  am  happy  now  because  you're  here. 

It  does  me  good  to  see  you.  I  am  at  Blathford  again " 

she  broke  off. 

"I  would  have  been  with  you  every  day,  but  could  not." 

"When  do  you  sail?" 

"The  date's  not  yet  fixed;  in  eight  or  ten  weeks  hence,  I 
dare  say."  Finding  her  silent,  I  said,  "Have  you  made  any 
friends?  People,  I  mean,  who  ask  you  to  their  houses,  and 
cultivate  you  for  yourself?" 

"No,  nor  am  I  likely  to  do  so  as  a  governess.  Those  I 
have  met  are  stiff  and  distant.  I  don't  fancy  they  want  poor 
ladies  out  here.  The  position  is  a  false  one  in  England;  it  is 
falser  still  in  this  country.  I  feel  as  though  people  walked 
around  me,  and  eyed  me  from  head  to  heel,  saying,  'What's 
this?  It's  not  a  servant  or  a  working  woman.  It  can't  be  a 
lady,  because  it's  poor,  and  lives  by  teaching.  What,  then, 
is  it?'  That's  how  they  make  me  feel." 

"Kate,  what  will  grieve  you  more  than  people's  behavior  is 
the  thought  that  England  is  sixteen  thousand  miles  off." 

"Don't  speak  of  it!"  she  cried  quickly,  with  a  passionate 
shake  of  her  head,  as  though  angered  by  some  sudden  trouble 
of  tears.  "Let  it  be  as  far  distant  as  the  moon.  I  am  as 
friendless  there  as  here.  What  has  distance  to  do  with  the 
sorrows  or  happiness  of  such  as  I?  Distance  is  not  time." 

"Kate,  when  I  am  in  England  you'll  not  be  without  a 
friend  there,"  said  I. 

She  looked  at  me  peevishly,  went  to  the  window,  and 
exclaimed:  "Is  not  this  a  sweet  picture  of  a  garden?" 

"Not  so  sweet  as  a  garden  I  know  at  Blathford." 

"Look  at  those  heavenly  little  green  parrots!  How  mer- 
rily they  whistle!  I  am  getting  to  know  many  of  the  names 


338  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

of  the  trees  and  flowers.  But  oh,  for  the  real  thing!  Those 
trees  are  not  the  ash  nor  the  larch,  though  they  try  to  look  so, 
nor  is  that  the  fuchsia,  lovely  as  it  is  with  its  delicate  pendu- 
lous flowers.  Nor  is  that  the  true  rose!  There's  no  perfume; 
the  birds  have  no  song.  Will  they  ever  get  garden  scents  and 
the  music  of  the  woods  in  this  land?  But  they'll  not  want  it!" 
she  exclaimed,  turning  to  me  with  a  pout.  "There  a-e  no 
memories,  and  traditions  for  birds  to  sweeten,  and  flowers  to 
color.  In  a  thousand  years'  time,  perhaps,  it  will  be  a  country 
of  legend,  and  then  the  nightingale  may  sing  to  the  moon  in 
the  north,  and  the  owl  hoot  in  ruins.  It's  too  long  to  wait!" 
said  she. 

Just  then  Mrs.  Carey  entered;  a  tall,  handsome  lady,  very 
richly  dressed  for  the  play,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I  was  deep  in 
talk  with  her,  on  the  now  inevitable  subject  of  my  experience 
in  the  Pacific.  Half  an  hour  later  we  went  to  dinner;  an 
elegant  Australian  meal,  of  which  I  recollect  but  these  dishes, 
namely:  wallibi-tail  soup,  wonga-wonga  pigeon,  Kangaroo 
venison,  and  a  wonderful  dessert  of  plantains,  guavas,  and 
cherimoyas. 

The  Careys  had  taken  seats  at  the  theater,  and  Mrs.  Carey 
sat  at  dinner  in  full  fig;  she  had  dazzling  shoulders  and  splen- 
did diamonds,  and  her  age  was  about  eight  and  forty.  The 
brightness  was  something  dimmed  in  her  large  blue  eyes, 
fine  but  fading,  yet  there  had  been  a  time 

When  the  gleam  of  her  silken  sock  had  drawn 
Sighs  from  an  epaulet  ! 

We  started  together;  the  Careys  in  their  own,  Kate  and  I  in 
a  hired  carriage.  The  road  opposite  the  theater  was  crowded 
with  people;  every  variety  of  the  Larrikin  and  Cornstalk  was 
there  assembled;  the  coachman  forced  his  way  to  the  entrance 
with  difficulty,  and  taking  Kate  by  the  hand  I  quickly  passed 
into  the  lobby,  where  almost  the  first  person  I  met  was  Mr. 
Levy.  He  saluted  me  as  though  I  had  been  his  Excellency 
himself,  and  accompanied  us  at  once  to  a  small  private  box 
overlooking  the  stage,  where  he  stayed  a  few  minutes  to  rapidly 
run  through  the  programme  of  the  evening. 

Already  the  theater  was  crammed.  I  took  a  peep  at  the 
ocean  of  hair  in  the  pit — the  colony  was  too  young  for  bald 
heads  in  those  days — and  warily  squinted  at  the  billow  of  faces 
rolling  down  from  gallery  to  circle. 

"They  mean  to  convey  me  on  to  that  stage  there,  where  I 
shall  have  to  make  a  speech,"  said  I.  "The  very  thought 


CONCLUSION.  339 

deprives  me  of  utterance,  and  my  tongue  feels  to  be  coiled  up 
like  a  rope  that  wants  the  turns  taken  out  of  it." 

"Say  little,  and  think  only  of  what  you  say,  not  at  all  of 
those  who  listen.  Have  you  got  a  speech  by  heart?" 

"Twenty,  and  I  forget  them  all!" 

At  this  moment  the  orchestra  played  "God  save  the  Queen," 
and  Sir  Charles  and  Lady  Mary  and  two  or  three  others,  all 
brilliant  in  uniform,  her  ladyship  gorgeous  in  satin  and  spark- 
ling ornaments,  entered  a  large  stage  box  almost  abreast  of 
the  one  we  occupied.  I  kept  out  of  sight,  and  Kate  sat  well 
back. 

The  curtain  rose  upon  a  nautical  drama.  It  was  called 
"Tempest  Tossed."  I  suppose  there  is  nothing  in  the  world's 
literature  so  bad  as  the  British  nautical  drama,  and  there 
could  be  nothing  in  the  British  nautical  drama  worse  than 
"Tempest  Tossed."  It  contained  a  libel  on  us  gentlemen  of 
the  jacket,  in  the  character  of  a  mate,  who  four  or  five  times 
during  the  performance  ran  up  out  of  a  trap  door,  chased  by 
black  beetles,  and  mad  with  delirium  tremens;  in  vain  the 
wretch  tried  to  cast  himself  overboard;  the  manly,  bawling 
crew  (how  that  crew  bawled)  hauled  him  back,  and  remorse- 
lessly flung  him  down  again  through  the  trap  door  to  his  hell 
of  vermin. 

However,  even  the  worst  of  the  acting  was  handsomely 
applauded;  everything  pleased;  when  a  piece  of  the  scenery 
stuck  they  cheered  it.  The  curtain  fell  at  ten  o'clock,  and  I 
observed  a  movement  in  his  Excellency's  box,  and  fancied  I 
caught  a  vision  of  Mr.  Levy's  face  among  the  uniforms.  Sud- 
denly the  orchestra  struck  up  "Hearts  of  Oak,"  the  curtain 
rose,  and  my  spirits  sank.  All  this  while  the  pit  and  gallery 
were  roaring,  for  when  the  curtain  rose  this  was  the  picture  it 
exposed:  at  the  back  was  a  representation,  very  well  done,  of 
Sydney  Bay,  with  the  Earl  of  Leicester  at  anchor;  the  colors 
of  all  nations  were  draped  on  either  hand,  and.  to  left  and 
right,  in  front  of  the  stage,  hung  huge  British  ensigns,  the 
crimson  cross,  the  royal  standard,  and  other  flags  of  our 
country.  On  each  side  of  the  stage  were  grouped  the  girls 
who  had  formed  my  crew.  Levy  had  collected  them  all,  and 
there  they  were!  Yes!  There  was  Emmy  Reed,  and  there 
was  Charlotte  Brown,  and  brave  little  Susannah  Corbin,  Fanny 
Pike,  Mabel  Marshall — the  whole  of  them  saving  Alice  Perry; 
all  dressed  in  the  clothes  they  had  worn  at  sea. 

But  even  while  I  was  looking,  and  while  the  pit  and  gallery 
were  thundering,  the  door  of  our  box  was  opened,  and  Mr.  Levy 
entered  to  bear  me  away  to  the  stage.  I  followed,  with  the 


34°  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

sensations  of  a  malefactor  who  walks  from  his  cell  to  the  place 
where  he  is  to  be  pinioned.  Mr.  Levy  sought  to  cheer  me  up, 
and,  when  we  were  arrived  behind  the  scenes,  he  gave  me  a 
bumper  of  champagne.  I  heard  somebody  talking  on  the 
stage;  there  was  now  a  profound  stillness  in  the  house.  I 
approached  the  "wings,"  and  perceived  a  gentleman  in  a  frock 
coat  close  to  the  footlights,  addressing  the  audience.  I  asked 
Mr.  Levy  what  the  gentleman  was  doing.  He  said  he  was 
relating  the  story  of  the  adventures  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester. 
The  gentleman  was  frequently  interrupted  by  clapping  and 
cheers.  Mr.  Levy  told  me  the  speaker  was  a  distinguished 
tragedian,  Mr.  Littleworth;  he  had  been  sent  to  this  country 
in  trouble,  and  on  his  enlargement  had  betaken  himself  to 
the  stage.  He  declaimed  with  a  deep,  thrilling  voice  that 
reminded  me  of  Brigstock's. 

I  was  too  nervous  to  heed  him,  and  all  the  while  was  trying 
to  hearten  myself  by  looking  at  the  girls  of  my  crew,  many  of 
whom  stood  plain  in  my  sight,  though  they  could  not  see  me. 
Presently  Mr.  Littleworth  ceased;  this  was  the  dreaded  "cue." 

"Now,  captain,"  said  Mr.  Levy,  and  marched  me  right  on 
to  the  middle  of  the  stage. 

I  do  not  recollect  what  then  exactly  happened.  I  was  car- 
ried down  to  the  orchestra,  which  struck  up  at  sight  of  me, 
and  the  noise  was  deafening,  while  the  hurrahs!  roared  in  the 
building  like  the  bellowing  of  a  Horn  gale  through  naked  spars. 

Mr.  Levy  led  me  to  the  box  where  sat  the  governor,  who 
arose,  amid  a  profound  stillness,  and  addressed  me.  The 
newspapers  printed  a  full  account  of  this  presentation,  but 
why  should  I  inflict  the  speeches  upon  you?  Enough  if  I  say 
that  Sir  Charles,  after  speaking  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
handed  me  a  purse  of  seven  hundred  guineas,  "in  testimony 
of  the  admiration  felt  by  the  people  of  Sydney,  for  my  having 
delivered,  from  a  situation  of  terrible  peril,  between  seventy 
and  eighty  helpless  female  emigrants,  who,  but  for  the  judg- 
ment I  had  exhibited,  might  have  suffered  even  a  worse  fate 
than  shipwreck." 

All  this  was  well  understood,  and  it  was  true  ! 

I  stuttered  out  a  few  sentences  of  thanks,  though  I  was 
afterward  told  I  did  not  make  so  ill  a  figure  as  I  had  supposed. 

When  the  presentation  was  over,  the  curtain  fell  amid  a 
fresh  outburst  of  roaring,  but  for  another  quarter  of  an  hour  I 
was  occupied  behind  the  scenes  in  shaking  hands  with  my  girls, 
asking  them  questions,  and  drinking  their  health  in  champagne. 

In  the  lobby  of  the  theater,  while  on  my  way  with  Kate  to 
the  carriage  I  had  hired,  we  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carey,  who 


CONCLUSION.  341 

wanted  to  drive  us  home;  but  my  opportunities  for  seeing 
Kate  were  few,  and  I  wished  to  be  alone  with  her.  Then 
would  I  take  a  bed  at  their  house  in  Darlinghurst?  I  accepted 
the  offer  with  thanks.  They  got  into  their  landau,  and  Kate 
and  I  followed  in  a  cab. 

I  pulled  out  the  purse,  and,  by  the  help  of  the  lampposts  we 
passed,  found  that  the  gift  was  in  notes,  with  fifty  pounds  in 
gold  and  odd  money  to  make  up  the  guineas. 

"What  do  you  think  of  it  all?"  said  I  to  Kate,  while  I 
pocketed  the  money. 

"I'm  very  glad  you're  so  fortunate." 

"Nothing  of  it's  deserved,  I  suppose?     It's  all  luck!" 

"A  bit  of  both,"  she  answered. 

"Did  I  make  a  good  speech?" 

She  laughed,  but  returned  no  answer. 

"How  long  will  it  take,"  said  I,  "for  the  people  of  this 
liberal  and  prosperous  colony  to  forget  all  about  my  exploit?" 

"They  can  think  of  nothing  but  the  gold  diggings.  If  I 
were  a  man  I  would  go  and  dig.  Mr.  Carey  was  saying  yes- 
terday that  he  met  a  man  who,  in  three  days,  had  found  gold 
at  a  place  called  Ophir  worth  eleven  hundred  pounds.  His 
cradle  cost  him  five  shillings,  and  his  whole  outfit  two  pounds 
twelve ! ' ' 

"I'm  going  home  to  London,"  said  I,  and  I  began  to  whistle. 

Presently  I  said,  "I  may  now  consider  myself  very  well  off. 
What  don't  I  owe  Brigstock?  He  stole  me,  and  now  behold 
me!  I'm  worth  seven  hundred  pounds  odd,  in  what  is  termed 
hard  cash;  I've  obtained  command  at  twelve  pounds  a  month  ; 
the  agents  assure  me  that  the  owners  are  not  likely  to  resist 
any  modest  claims  I  may  make  for  salvage — for  preserving  the 
ship  and  most  of  the  cargo  anyhow.  There's  no  earthly 
reason,  now  that  I'm  skipper  of  the  vessel,  why  I  shouldn't  go 
on  holding  that  post  till  they  give  me  another  appointment, 
unless  I  go  into  steam,  which  I've  rather  a  fancy  for.  Don't 
I  owe  Brigstock  much,  Kate?" 

"Why,  yes,  as  you  put  it." 

"He  brought  us  together,  Kate." 

"In  the  middle  of  the  ocean." 

"I  once  said  you  should  sail  home  with  me  in  the  cuddy  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester.  Do  you  remember?" 

She  was  silent.     I  felt  for,  and  found  her  hand,  and  held  it. 

"Do  you  remember?"  I  repeated. 

"Yes." 

"I  also,  on  several  occasions,  said  that  you  were  my  only 
mate." 


342  THE  EMIGRANT  SHIP. 

"You  always  put  Alice  Perry  before  me." 

"Chaw,  my  honeybird!  See  here,  Kate.  You  know  what's 
coming;  not  that  I  feel  it  in  your  hand,  though  most  girls,  it's 
said,  tremble  on  these  occasions.  You  know  what's  coming, 
Kate?" 

''How  can  I  imagine?" 

"Will  you  be  my  wife?" 

"O  Charlie!     Are  you  in  earnest?" 

"Do  you  think  I'm  old  Harding  or  Jupe  Jackson?  In 
earnest!"  and  here  I  put  my  arm  round  her  waist. 

She  made  no  fuss,  but  said  quite  calmly,  "Charlie,  I  love 
you,  and  if  I  did  not  know  that,  as  a  wife,  I  should  be  a  burden 
to  you,  I'd  say  yes.  Think  it  over,  dear;  you'll  have  plenty  of 
leisure  while  sailing  home,  and  you  may  come  out  here  again. 
If  you  do,  and  are  still  of  the  same  mind,  you'll  find  me  ready. ' ' 

"Perhaps  married,"  said  I. 

"No." 

"Think!  You  are  the  sweetest  girl  in  this  colony.  How 
long  shall  you  remain  single?  There  may  be  a  jolly  old 
squatter  there,  or  there,"  cried  I,  pointing  through  one  win- 
dow, then  through  the  other,  "with  a  fortune  of  a  hundred 
thousand  waiting  for  you.  What  though  the  iron  in  times 
gone  by  did  enter  his  ankles?  His  soul  is  purged  of  the  Old 
Bailey.  He's  now  a  fine  old  gentleman  with  such  another 
house  to  live  in  as  Roslyn  Hall  or  Larbert  Cottage ;  he  drives 
a  better  turnout  than  the  governor's,  and  has  but  another 
hurdle  or  two  to  jump  for  the  Premiership.  Give  me  this 
hand  before  he  takes  it!"  said  I,  squeezing  her  fingers. 

She  laughed  softly  and  nervously,  and  said,  "You're  not 
old  enough  to  marry." 

"Don't  believe  it!" 

"You  can't  know  your  own  mind." 

"I  know  my  own  heart." 

"O  Charlie,  I  wish  I  knew  what  to  do!" 

And  now  I  really  felt  the  dear  girl's  hand  tremble. 

"Say  yes.  They  were  quick  enough  aboard  ship.  Han- 
nah didn't  keep  Brigstock  waiting  in  this  fashion." 

Then  losing  patience  I  caught  her  in  my  arms,  brought  her 
face  to  mine,  and  held  her  till  she  said  yes,  by  which  time  we 
were  within  three  minutes  of  Mrs.  Carey's  house. 

So  reluctant  are  girls  to  get  married ! 

I  sailed  from  Sydney  a  married  man,  in  command  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1851,  and  with  me 
went  my  young  wife  and  six  saloon  and  fourteen  steerage 


CONCLUSION.  343 

passengers.  The  voyage  home  was  as  flat  and  commonplace 
a  procession  of  weeks,  as  the  passage  out  had  been  feverishly 
exciting  with  incident,  menace,  and  ever-haunting  peril;  and 
we  anchored  in  the  River  Thames,  January  30,  1852,  without 
a  log-entry  good  enough  to  detain  the  eye  for  a  moment. 

You  will  not  suppose  that  in  all  these  months  I  had  for- 
gotten the  Hebe,  and  Captain  Cadman  and  Mr.  Fletcher  of 
Bristol.  Ever  since  the  hour  of  my  regaining  consciousness 
on  the  great  Salvage  Island,  I  had  determined,  when  I  got 
home,  to  swear  an  information  against  the  scoundrels  who, 
whether  they  had  succeeded  or  not  in  defrauding  the  under- 
writers, were  to  all  intents  and  purposes  my  murderers.  And 
now  my  ship  was  hardly  berthed  in  the  West  India  Docks 
when  I  received  news  of  the  Hebe. 

Messrs.  Norton  &  Jackson  had,  as  may  be  supposed,  writ- 
ten a  full  account  of  my  experiences  to  the  owners  of  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  by  an  early  ship  soon  after  my  arrival  at  Sydney, 
therefore  on  my  meeting  Mr.  Donald  Grant,  a  partner  in  the 
firm,  almost  the  first  words  he  addressed  to  me  were: 

"Did  you  hear  as  you  came  up  Channel  that  they  succeeded 
in  wrecking  the  Hebe  in  Table  Bay?  but  so  clumsily  that  the 
man  Fletcher  was  drowned,  along  with  two  of  the  crew;  so 
clumsily  indeed,  that  the  rogue  Cadman,  through  overtalking 
himself  with  Fletcher  during  the  passage  out,  put  it  into  the 
power  of  the  crew  to  inform  against  .him?  Portions  of  the 
cargo  which  washed  ashore  were  examined;  the  wreck,  as  she 
lay  stranded,  was  overhauled,  and  Cadman  was  sent  home  to 
take  his  trial  on  the  charge  of  casting  the  brig  away." 

I  listened  with  open-mouthed,  devouring  attention, 
astounded,  delighted. 

"Is  Cadman  in  custody  in  this  country?" 

"Aye,  they  have  him  snug  and  tight  in  the  Old  Bailey." 

"Oh,  well,  sir,  I  do  thank  God  for  that!  I'll  give  evidence 
against  him.  Thunder!  but  I'm  grateful  I'm  in  time!" 

As  early  as  possible  I  procured  the  address  of  the  solicitors 
for  the  prosecution.  They  welcomed  me.  It  seems  that  the 
man  had  almost  slipped  through  their  fingers.  The  ship  he 
had  been  sent  home  in  touched  at  Madeira,  and  Cadman 
escaped  by  swimming  to  a  vessel  that  lay  closer  inshore  than 
his  own;  he  hung  by  her  cable — it  was  night-time — and  called 
for  help,  and  was  put  ashore  by  the  ship's  boat;  the  seamen, 
who  were  French,  supposing  that  he  belonged  to  the  island, 
and  had  been  capsized  while  out  fishing. 

He  secreted  himself  to  so  much  purpose  that  this  advertise- 
ment was  widely  distributed: 


344  THE  EMIGRANT    SHIP. 

SHIP  "  HEBE  "-FELONY— £100  REWARD. 

Whereas  James  Cadman,  Master  Mariner,  late  Captain  of  the  brig  Hebe, 
bound  from  Bristol  to  Capetown  in  the  month  of  March  last,  and  wrecked 
off  Green  Point  in  Table  Bay  in  the  month  of  May  last,  stands  charged  with 
felony  for  having  willfully  destroyed  the  said  ship  Hebe  on  her  said  voyage, 
for  the  purpose  of  defrauding  the  Insurance  Companies,  or  Underwriters, 
who  had  effected  Insurance  by  the  said  vessel — A  Reward  of  ^100  will  be 
paid  to  any  person  who  will  lodge  him  in  any  of  Her  Majesty's  jails  upon  an 
application  to 

Here  followed  the  name  of  an  insurance  office,  together 
with  a  description  of  Cadman,  which  I  own  made  me  laugh, 
for  it  was  exceedingly  good. 

Cadman  escaped  from  Madeira  in  a  schooner;  his  adven- 
tures afterward  I  am  unable  to  relate;  when  next  heard  of  he 
had  arrived  in  England  in  the  William  Wallace,  from  Cape  de 
Verde,  whether  in  custody  or  not  I  cannot  say;  on  landing, 
he  was  immediately  collared  and  locked  up. 

His  trial  took  place  in  April,  at  the  Central  Criminal  Court. 
There  was  yet  a  fortnight  till  the  sailing  of  the  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter, and  I  was  able  to  attend  the  trial  without  inconvenience. 
Cadman,  I  presume,  did  not  know  that  I  was  to  be  called, 
and  I  shall  never  forget  the  scoundrel's  face  when  he  saw  me. 
For  months  he  had  thought  of  me  as  dead.  Fletcher  had 
come  off  from  the  island,  and  told  him  he  had  thrown  me  over 
a  hundred  feet  of  cliff.  It  is  no  trifling  shock  to  stumble 
suddenly  upon  a  man  whom  you  have  been  told  is  dead,  and 
are  used  to  think  of  as  buried;  but  how  volcanic  must  be  the 
emotions  of  one  who,  on  a  sudden,  meets  face  to  face  a  person 
whom  he  knows  was  murdered,  and  in  whose  assassination  he 
was  concerned ! 

The  visage  of  the  miscreant,  at  sight  of  me,  would  have 
transported  him,  though  there  had  been  no  other  evidence  of 
his  guilt.  I  see  him  now,  as  he  stands  in  the  dock,  eying  me 
with  his  malevolent,  askant  gaze,  motionless,  yellow,  every 
muscle  of  his  face  rigid,  as  though  I  had  been  the  devil  fleshed 
in  the  most  frightful  of  the  monkish  imagination  of  that  spirit, 
waiting  for  the  Judge  to  pass  sentence  to  fly  away  with  him. 

The  man  was  of  course  guilty,  and  the  jury  pronounced  him 
so,  that  is,  of  casting  the  Hebe  away  (he  was  not  charged  with 
conspiring  to  murder  me,  possibly  because  they  could  not  have 
brought  it  home  to  him).  The  evidence  was  damning,  and  I 
had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the  judge  sentence  James  Cad- 
man to  be  transported  beyond  the  seas  for  the  term  of  his 
natural  life. 

I  was  in  Sydney  again  in  August,  1852,  and  heard  that  an 


CONCLUSION.  345 

armed  brig,  which  had  been  dispatched  to  search  for  the  Brig- 
stock  settlement,  had  returned  without  having  anything  to 
report.  I  saw  her  log  book,  and  understood  why  they  had  not 
fallen  in  with  Bull's  Island.  Some  pressure,  as  the  term  is, 
was  put  upon  me  to  disclose  the  men's  whereabouts,  but  I 
kept  the  oath  and  the  secret  with  an  obstinacy  worthy  a  better 
cause. 

However,  when  a  voyage  later  I  was  again  at  Sydney,  they 
had  news  to  give  me.  A  colonial  trader  belonging  to  Mel- 
bourne had  spoken  a  whaler;  the  captains  had  exchanged  visits 
during  a  prolonged  calm ;  and  the  whaling  captain  told  the 
other  that  he  had  touched  at  an  island  he  had  once  or  twice 
visited  for  water  and  nuts,  and,  greatly  to  his  surprise,  found  it 
inhabited  by  white  men  and  women.  He  said  that  the  chief 
of  the  party  was  one  Brigstock,  a  grave,  formal,  solemn-faced 
fellow.  They  had  built  themselves  a  village,  and  appeared  to 
want  for  nothing,  yet  some  of  them  seemed  restless  and  uneasy. 
The  whaling  skipper,  who  had  heard  of  the  affair  of  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  guessed  who  those  people  were,  and  told  them 
that  the  governor  of  New  South  Wales  had  dispatched  an 
armed  vessel  in  search  of  them.  He  also  gave  them  the  news 
of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Wellington  and  Bathurst  dis- 
tricts; this  intelligence  he  had  got  from  a  Yankee  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands. 

The  little  trading  schooner  arrived  at  Melbourne  with  this 
report,  which  was  immediately  forwarded  to  the  governor  at 
Sydney.  No  latitude  and  longitude  had  been  stated  by  the 
whaling  skipper,  but  the  master  of  the  schooner  gathered  from 
the  other's  conversation  that  the  island  the  Brigstock  party 
had  settled  was  situated  on  the  parallel  of  Hercules'  Island, 
some  leagues  to  the  eastward  of  it. 

The  armed  brig  found  the  island  without  difficulty ;  a  boat's 
crew  went  ashore;  the  village,  as  described  by  the  whaling 
skipper,  was  discovered,  charmingly  situated  in  a  beautiful 
valley  near  the  great  lagoon;  every  house  stood  in  a  large 
inclosed  garden,  but  not  a  living  creature  was  to  be  seen! 

The  goods  taken  from  the  hold  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  were 
distributed  among  the  houses,  or  stored  in  a  little  gallery  of 
natural  caverns  on  the  north  shore  of  the  island.  They  were 
collected  and  taken  on  board,  and  when  they  were  examined 
at  Sydney  the  quantity  missing — chiefly  tinned  food,  wearing 
apparel,  blankets,  and  the  like — did  not  exceed  in  value  the 
amount  the  ship  was  indebted  to  the  sailors  for  wages. 

Of  Brigstock  and  his  family  of  settlers  nothing  was  ever 
heard — nothing,  at  all  events,  that  reached  my  ears.  The 


346  THE  EMIGRANT    SHIP. 

boats  they  had  taken  had  not  been  seen  by  the  people  of  the 
armed  brig;  it  was  assumed  that  the  party  had  gone  aboard  a 
vessel  in  them,  and  that  they  had  been  held  in  discharge  of 
the  cost  of  giving  the  women  a  passage — the  men  working  it 
out  for  themselves.  No  doubt  the  people  had  been  alarmed 
by  learning  that  an  armed  brig  was  seeking  them;  their  views, 
too,  on  settling  and  becoming  fathers  and  elders  might  also 
have  been  influenced  by  the  news  of  gold  in  a  continent  that 
was  hard  by.  Likely  enough,  they  all  went  secretly  to  some 
Australian  port,  and  there  dispersed,  each  man  taking  his 
partner  with  him — or  not !  as  it  might  have  happened.  I  own 
I  lamented  this  failure  of  Brigstock's  scheme.  He  deserved 
a  better  fortune.  Spite  of  his  and  the  men's  inhuman  usage 
of  me,  I  am  bound  to  say  a  straighter-headed,  more  sober, 
respectable  body  of  men  never  swing  in  hammocks  at  sea.  I 
had  great  hope  of  their  establishing  a  successful  little  colony, 
and  was  astonished  to  learn  that,  after  they  had  built  homes  for 
themselves,  they  had  suffered  the  news  of  a  brig  being  in  search 
of  them  to  break  them  up. 

Now  for  a  final  curious  incident:  it  was  in  this  same  year 
of  1853,  and  my  ship  was  lying  abreast  of  the  wool  sheds  at 
Sydney,  loaded  down  to  the  chain-plate  bolts,  ready  to  sail  in 
three  days.  I  was  writing  a  letter  at  the  cuddy  table,  when  my 
chief  officer  came  in,  and  said  that  a  lady  was  on  the  quay 
side  asking  permission  to  step  aboard  and  see  me. 

"Doesn't  she  give  her  name?"  said  I. 

"No,  sir.  She's  a  handsome  woman,  finely  dressed,  yet 
she  don't  look  a  lady  either." 

"Bring  her  aboard,  and  show  her  aft  here,"  said  I. 

I  went  on  with  my  letter.  Presently  I  was  sensible  of  some- 
body entering  the  cuddy  door.  I  dropped  my  pen,  started 
up,  looked,  and  yet  looked  again,  almost  as  stiff  with  the 
paralysis  of  astonishment  as  Cadman  had  been  at  sight  of  me. 

It  was  Alice  Perry ! 

I  recognized  her  in  a  moment,  for  all  that  I  had  reckoned 
her  dead  as  the  ooze  at  the  bottom  of  the  salt  sea.  She  was 
dressed  as  fashionably  as  any  grand  lady  in  Sydney  at  that 
time;  the  sight  of  me  filled  her  face  with  color;  -her  eyes 
sparkled;  and  she  advanced,  her  hand  extended,  with  one  of 
her  well-remembered  smiles,  a  very  glare  of  large  white  teeth. 

"Capt'n,"  she  cried,  "do  you  want  an  'ousemaid?"  And 
she  burst  into  one  of  her  hysteric,  shrieking  laughs,  to  the 
amazement  of  the  mate,  a  sober,  slow-minded  Irishman,  who 
stood  viewing  us  at  the  cuddy  door. 

I  peered  at  her  with  my  head  stretched  forward,  like  a  game- 


CONCLUSION.  347 

cock  looking  at  another,  incredulous  of  the  evidence  of  my 
vision.  I  then  said,  taking  her  hand: 

"I  thought  you  were  drowned?" 

"I  ought  to  be,"  she  answered;  "and  all  along  of  you,  too 
— but  that's  passed."  Yet  she  gave  me  a  look  as  she  said 
this,  which  made  me  fancy  it  was  not  quite  so. 

I  made  her  sit  down,  and  sat  beside  her,  and  then  after  I 
had  answered  the  fifty  questions  she  plied  me  with— if  it  was 
true  I  had  married  Kate  Darnley;  if  I  could  tell  her  what 
had  become  of  my  crew  of  girls,  and  how  they  were  doing; 
if  it  was  true  the  Brigstock  settlement  had  been  broken  up, 
and  so  on — she  related  her  extraordinary  story. 

She  told  it  with  her  eyes  on  fire,  her  cheeks  hot  as  a  tropic 
sunset,  but  with  a  most  intrepid  audacious  expression  of  face. 

She  had  thought  herself  in  love  with  me,  and  so  she  might 
have  been,  she  said ;  her  jealousy  was  making  a  devil  of  her; 
often  when  Kate  Darnley  had  been  quietly  talking  with  her, 
she  had  scarcely  been  able  to  restrain  her  passion  of  desire  to 
stab  her  to  the  heart.  She  feared  she  would  go  mad.  She 
was  in  secret  most  horribly  miserable;  so  she  resolved  to 
destroy  herself. 

The  night  she  was  missing,  after  writing  her  strange  letter 
to  me  she  dropped  down  over  the  bows  (as  I  had  supposed) 
and  sank  silently.  The  ship  rippled  onward,  leaving  her 
floating  astern;  she  declared  she  floated  an  hour  in  full  con- 
sciousness watching  the  stars,  and  wondering  if  God  would 
forgive  her.  All  then  was  blank  till,  coming  to  her  senses, 
she  found  herself  in  a  native  hut,  watched  by  a  number  of 
dusky  men  and  women. 

Undoubtedly  she  had  been  picked  up  by  the  canoe  whose 
people  I  had  heard  hallooing,  that  speck  I  had  noticed  in  the 
midst  of  the  silver  under  the  moon.  The  natives  treated  her 
with  great  humanity.  An  old  chief  asked  her  to  be  his  wife. 
They  offered  her  no  indignities,  and  let  her  do  as  she  liked. 
As  her  male  attire  wore  out,  they  furnished  her  with  a  cover- 
ing of  tappa.  She  lived  in  this  condition  for  seven  months, 
during  which  time  she  never  saw  a  ship. 

At  last,  one  morning  a  small  bark  appeared  off  the  island; 
at  her  request,  without  the  least  manifestation  of  reluctance, 
the  natives  put  her  aboard,  and  she  was  carried  to  Hobart 
Town,  where  she  married  a  young  butcher. 

Her  husband,  hearing  of  the  gold  rush,  brought  her  to 
Australia,  where  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  pick  up  in  a  few 
months  a  fortune  of  thirty  thousand  pounds.  She  was  living, 
she  told  me,  in  a  little  villa  at  a  place  called  (I  forget  the 


348  THE  EMIGRANT    SHIP. 

name).  Would  I  visit  her?  Would  I  honor  her  and  her 
husband  by  dining  with  them  next  day?  My  engagements 
would  not  admit  of  this,  otherwise  nothing  would  have  given 
me  more  pleasure  than  to  eat  a  piece  of  Australian  mutton 
with  my  saucy,  handsome  sailor-girl,  Alice.  Before  going  she 
told  me  the  savages  had  stolen  her  whistle! 

The  next  voyage  I  made  was  to  India;  when  I  was  again  in 
Sydney  I  learned  that  Alice  had  died  two  months  before  the 
ship's  arrival. 


THE   END. 


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